Paki is a derogatoryethnic slur originating from theUnited Kingdom, directed towards people ofPakistani and by extensionSouth Asian (mainlyIndian andBangladeshi) descent,[1][2] as well asMuslims or perceived Muslims (such asHindus andSikhs) in general.[3][4][5] The references toPaki have been increasingly replaced by theeuphemism "the P-Word".[2][5][6]
"Paki" is part of theexonymPakistan. It is derived from the termPak (پاک) which means "purity" in Persian, Urdu and Pashto. There was no "Pak" or "Paki" ethnic group before thestate was created.[6][7] The name Pakistan (initially as "Pakstan") was coined by theCambridge University law student and Muslim nationalist from then British India ChoudhryRahmat Ali, and was published on 28 January 1933 in the pamphletNow or Never, eventually becoming the name adopted by the new country after the 1947partition of India and independence from theBritish Raj.[8][9]
The use of the term "Paki" in English was first recorded in 1964, during a period of increased South Asian immigration to the United Kingdom. At this time, the term "Paki" was very much in mixed usage; it was often used as a slur. While it might seem likely that it would only be directed towardsPakistanis, it has also been directed at people of otherSouth Asian backgrounds (mainly Indians and Bangladeshis) as well as people from other demographics who physically resembleSouth Asians.[10]
Starting in the late-1960s,[11] and peaking in the 1970s and 1980s, violent gangs opposed to immigration took part in attacks known as "Paki-bashing", which targeted and assaulted South Asians and businesses owned by them,[12] and occasionally other ethnic minorities.[13] "Paki-bashing" became more common afterEnoch Powell'sRivers of Blood speech in 1968;[11] polls at the time showed that Powell's anti-immigrant rhetoric held support amongst the majority of the white populace at the time.[14][15]
"Paki-bashing" peaked during the 1970s–1980s, with the attackers often being supporters offar-rightfascist,racist andanti-immigrant movements, including thewhite power skinheads, theNational Front, and theBritish National Party.[14][16] These attacks were usually referred to as either "Paki-bashing" or "skinheadterror", with the attackers usually called "Paki-bashers" or "skinheads".[11][17]"Paki-bashing" was partly fuelled by themedia's anti-immigrant andanti-Pakistani rhetoric at the time,[16] and bysystemic failures of state authorities, which included under-reporting racist attacks, the criminal justice system not taking racist violence seriously, constant racial harassment by police, and police involvement in racist violence.[11]Asians were frequently stereotyped as "weak" and "passive" in the 1960s and 1970s, with Pakistanis viewed as "passive objects" and "unwilling to fight back", making them seen as easy targets by "Paki-bashers".[11] TheJoint Campaign Against Racism committee reported that there had been more than 20,000 racist attacks on Britishpeople of colour, includingBritons of South Asian origin, during 1985.[18]
Drawing inspiration from theAfrican-American civil rights movement, theBlack Power movement, and theanti-apartheid movement, youngBritish Asian activists began a number ofanti-racist youth movements against "Paki-bashing", including the Bradford Youth Movement in 1977, theBangladeshi Youth Movement following the murder ofAltab Ali in 1978, and theNewham Youth Movement following the murder of Akhtar Ali Baig in 1980.[19]
The earliest groups to resist "Paki-bashing" date back to 1968–1970, with two distinct movements that emerged: theintegrationist approach began by the Pakistani Welfare Association and National Federation of Pakistani Associations attempted to establish positiverace relations while maintaininglaw and order, which was contrasted by theautonomous approach began by the Pakistani Progressive Party and the Pakistani Workers' Union which engaged invigilantism asself-defence against racially motivated violence and police harassment in conjunction with the Black Power movement (often working with theBritish Black Panthers andCommunist Workers League of Britain) while also seeking to replace the "weak" and "passive"stereotypes of Pakistanis and Asians. Divisions arose between the integrationist and autonomous movements by 1970, with integrationist leader Raja Mahmudabad criticising the vigilantism of the latter as "alien to the spirit and practice ofIslam" whereas PPP/PWU leader Abdul Hye stated they "have no intention of fighting or killing anyone, but if it comes to us, we will hit back." It was not until the 1980s and 1990s that academics began to take racially motivated violence into serious focus, partly as a result of black and Asian people entering academic life.[11]
In the twenty-first century, some youngerBritish Pakistanis and otherBritish South Asians have attempted to reclaim the word, thus drawing parallels to theLGBT reclamation of the slur "queer" and theAfrican American reclamation of the slur "nigger".[10][20]Peterborough businessman Abdul Rahim, who produces merchandise reclaiming the word, equates it to more socially accepted terms such as "Aussie" and "Kiwi", saying that it is more similar to them than it is to "nigger", as it denotes a nationality and not a biological race.[20] However, other British Pakistanis see use of the word as unacceptable even among members of their community, due to its historical usage in a negative way.[10]
In December 2000, theAdvertising Standards Authority published research on attitudes of the British public to pejoratives. It rankedPaki as the tenth severest pejorative in the English language, up from seventeenth three years earlier.[21]
Several scholars have comparedIslamophobic street violence in the 2000s and 2010s to that of Paki-bashing in the 1970s and 1980s.[16][4][22] Robert Lambert notes that a key difference is that, whereas the National Front and BNP targeted all British South Asians (including Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs), theEnglish Defence League (EDL) specifically targetBritish Muslims. Lambert also compares the media's role in fuelling "Paki-bashing" in the late 20th century to its role in fuelling Islamophobic sentiment in the early 21st century.[16] Geddes said that variations of the "Paki" racial slur were occasionally used by members of the EDL.[4]
The term is also used as a slur in Canada againstSouth Asian Canadians.[23] The term migrated to Canada around the 1970s with increased South Asian immigration to Canada.[24][25][26][27] In 2008, a campaign sign for anIndo-CanadianAlberta Liberal Party candidate inEdmonton was defaced when the slur was spray painted on it.[28]
Americans are generally unfamiliar with the term "Paki" as a slur, and U.S. leaders and public figures have occasionally had to apologise for using the term. In January 2002,U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush said onIndia–Pakistan relations that "We are working hard to convince both the Indians and the Pakis that there's a way to deal with their problems without going to war." After aPakistani American journalist complained, a White House spokesman made a statement that Bush had great respect for Pakistan.[13] This followed an incident four years earlier, whenClintonWhite House adviserSandy Berger had to apologise for referencing "Pakis" in public comments.[13]
Spike Milligan, who was white, played the lead role of Kevin O'Grady in the 1969LWT sitcomCurry and Chips. O'Grady, half-Irish and half-Pakistani, was taunted with the name "Paki-Paddy"; the show intended to mock racism and bigotry.[29] Following complaints, the BBC edited out use of the word in repeats of the 1980s sitcomOnly Fools and Horses.[30] Columnists have perceived this as a way of obscuring the historical truth that the use of such words was commonplace at the time.[31] It was also regularly used inEastEnders in the 1980s referring to the owners of a local food shop including the first episode, which in contrast was not edited out in repeats. The word was also used inRita, Sue and Bob Too – set inBradford, one of the first cities to have a large Pakistani community.[citation needed] In the 2018 biopicBohemian Rhapsody,Freddie Mercury, who was IndianParsi, was often addressed derogatorily as a "Paki" when he worked as a baggage handler atLondon Heathrow Airport in 1970.[32]
In 2009,Prince Harry was publicly admonished when he was caught on video (taken years before) calling one of his fellow Army recruits "our little Paki friend."[33]
In 2015, the American filmJurassic World was mocked satirically by British Asian comedianGuz Khan for using "pachys" (pronounced "pakis") as shorthand for the genusPachycephalosaurus.[34]
During the2024 UK General Election campaign, a canvasser for theReform party used the slur against then prime ministerRishi Sunak, which the prime minister later addressed and condemned.[35]
slang (offensive and chiefly derogatory). Originally and chiefly British. A person of Pakistani (also more generally, South Asian) birth or descent, esp. one living in Britain.
