میرپوری | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
| Pahari-Pothwari,Urdu | |
| Religion | |
Predominately: Islam[1] Minority: Hinduism,[1] Sikhism[1] |
TheMirpuri diaspora constitutes ofPahari people originating from theMirpur District ofAzad Kashmir, Pakistan, now living outside that district.[1] Migration from Mirpur started occurring in the 1920s, when many Mirpuris left forBombay to work on merchant ships.[2]
During thepartition of British India in 1947, many MirpuriHindus and MirpuriSikhs were forced to flee to cities in theprincely state ofJammu and Kashmir to escape Muslim violence.[3] The construction of theMangla Dam by the Pakistani Government in the 1960s flooded fertile agricultural lands, forcing many Mirpuri Muslims to migrate to theUnited Kingdom to survive on work as labourers.[2][4]
In the 1920s, some Mirpuris left the area for Bombay, to work on the merchant ships of British India.[2]
Just before the partition of India, there were over 114,000 Mirpuri Hindus and Mirpuri Sikhs living in the districts which later became Azad Kashmir.[3] Many of them were engaged in business.[5] After the partition of India, in what is known as the1947 Mirpur massacre, females belonging to the Hindu and Sikh communities of Mirpur were abducted and raped by Pakistani tribals, with many Hindu Mirpuris and Sikh Mirpuris being forced to flee toJammu and other parts of India. In total, approximately 20,000 Hindu Mirpuris and Sikh Mirpuris were massacred by Pakistani tribals as they were fleeing, while the remaining number found refuge in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where they settled in the cities of Jammu,Kathua,Rajouri,Poonch andUdhampur. By 1951, only 790 Hindu and Sikh Mirpuris remained in their hometown.[3]
In the 1880scolonial India, some Mirpuris migrated to the city ofKarachi to work on merchant ships.[6]
Within Pakistan,Azad Kashmiris have migrated towards many provinces outside of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, chieflyPunjab,Sindh (particularly Karachi) and the capital territory ofIslamabad.[7][8][9]
While no accurate statistics are available, an estimated 60 to 70 per cent ofBritish Pakistanis inEngland trace their origins to the administrative territory ofAzad Kashmir in northeastern Pakistan, mainly from theMirpur,Kotli andBhimber districts.[10][11][12] Many of these individuals migrated to the United Kingdom in the 1960s to work as labourers after the construction of theMangla Dam by the Pakistani government flooded agricultural fields.[2][13] The majority of them adhere to theBarelvi movement ofSunni Islam.[4] Large Mirpuri communities can be found inBirmingham,Bradford,Manchester,Leeds,Luton and the surrounding towns.[14][11][15]
Today, the majority of individuals with roots to erstwhile Mirpur Division actually live in the Diaspora. Britain has the largest Mirpuri community anywhere in the world, and there is also a sizeable Mirpuri community in 'Jammu' originally comprised mostly of Hindu and Sikh refugees. The Mirpuri Mahajan community of Jammu is a particularly affluent community that has contributed massively to all sectors of society; Mirpuris comprise an important professional tier in Jammu which includes prominent Judges and politicians.
Migration from AJK in search of greener pastures dates back to the early 1920s when many people shifted to Bombay for jobs on merchant ships. The second wave of migration was induced by the Mangla dam construction in the 1960s. The difference between the two waves of migration is that while the first one was voluntary, the second one was forced. The construction of the Mangla dam had led to the submergence of vast chunk of fertile land and triggered migration as agro-based activities had collapsed. ... Since the construction work of the dam was with a British company, as per an understanding between the company and the government of Pakistan, 300 displaced persons from Mirpur were given work permits in Britain. After settling in the UK, these people sponsored their relatives living in AJK to immigrate.
In Mirpur District and Poonch Jagir, Muslims killed large numbers of Hindus and Sikhs, raped and/or abducted females, or forced non-Muslims to flee either to Hindu-dominant parts of Jammu Province or to India. This reflects similar occurrences in India, where native Muslim populations were similarly forced to flee for Pakistan. By 1951, of the former approximately 114,000 non-Muslims who in 1941 had lived in areas that later came to compromise Azad Kashmir--that is, 89 per cent of Mirpur District, 87 percent of Muzaffarabad District and 60 per cent of Poonch Jagir--only a paltry 790 non-Muslims remained.
Wealthy Hindu merchants known asmahajans who lent money to the community at high interest rates served as a bridge between local citizens and state authorities. In our interview, Justice Abdul Majeed Malik explained that the Mirpuri Hindus still called themselves Mirpuris. He also pointed out that a huge chunk of land in AJK originally belonged to the Hindu families who left AJK in 1947-1948.
Individual migration from what later became AJK started already before the Subcontinent's partition and independence. From the 1950s, chain migration developed, transferring large portions of the population of southern AJK (today's districts of Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber), resulting in quite concentrated settlements of Kashmiris in Britain, especially in Birmingham, Bradford, different towns in Lancashire and around London.
Kashmiris from Azad Kashmir (the Mirpur and Kotli districts) relocated to Britain in the 1950s, especially to the towns of Bradford, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Luton, on account of the availability of unskilled work.
The same chain migration channels the Mirpuris of Azad Kashmir to places like Bradford or Birmingham's Ward End or Beeston.
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