Missing from the ‘minority mainstream’: Pahari-speaking diaspora in Britain

Abstract

Pahari speakers form one of the largest ethnic non-European diasporas in Britain. Despite their size and over 60 years of settlement on British shores, the diaspora is shrouded by confusion regarding official and unofficial categorisations, remaining largely misunderstood as a collective with a shared ethnolinguistic memory. This has had implications for the recognition of Pahari within mainstream minority language provision. The first half of the article explores why Pahari has remained largely absent within discourse on minority languages in Britain. The second half of the article documents attempts from within the diaspora to address this gap through promoting and representing Pahari within a British context.

Keywords:

• minority languages
• language politics
• diaspora
• ethnic minorities
• colonialism
• media

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dalat Ali and Shamas Rehman for sharing wisdom attained through years of working on Pahari language promotion and Reiss Haider and the Portmir Foundation for sharing documents and many hours of discussion on the topic. I am also very grateful for their comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Notes

1. See Snedden (2005) for discussion on the administration of Jammu and Kashmir by the Pakistani state.

2. This figure is approximately two-thirds of the total 2011 Census count for respondents who chose the predefined ethnic category ‘Pakistani’ combined with the total count for respondents who described Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir (PJK) heritage using the ‘write-in’ option.

3. Pothwari is part of the Northern Lahndi continuum and often used interchangeably with Pahari for the southern Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir (Rehman 2005; Lothers and Lothers 2010, 2012; Haider 2014). Accordingly, Pothwari is part of the Pahari language group, and the Pothwar Plateau is within the Pahari ethnolinguistic geographical sphere.

4. PJK heritage Britons are often referred to as ‘Kashmiri’, as both Pakistan- and Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir are commonly shortened to ‘Kashmir’. Several PDS activists refer to the diaspora as Kashmiri based on state subject status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir prior to migration.

5. Comment on Episode Two, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fAAlWsOABU

6. Comment on Episode Two, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fAAlWsOABU

7. Comment on Episode One, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gSDxwv3NaQ