Punjabis, as is well documented, have been exploring new lands and settling since the time of the Raj. Those that settled in the UK from India and Pakistan in the 1960s came to fulfill a need for the British. Local people were not willing to do certain tasks, mostly manual ones, and it was felt that the services of the members of the Empire could be utilized. Due to soldiers from the Indian army traveling to the west (especially during the war, where many found themselves in Brighton), stories of how wonderful it was here reached India. The other factor was economics. Although there was widespread discrepancy in wages, however the power of the pound sent back home attracted many more. Of course this is not the full story.
Professionals like Doctors (India's doctors were to be the same standard as their British counterparts), and other educated people heard of the "gold rush" and wanted a part of it. Many sent money back home, including my parents, and helped improve the lot of those at home. This especially became true of Eastern Punjab, where the new money came at the same time as the Green Revolution. The intention was to make a quick buck and return. However, by the late sixties, people started buying properties and soon brought their families over. During this time the first generation of British Punjabis were born. At home they spoke Punjabi and ate Punjabi food and outside they spoke English and interacted with the indigenous population in the school playgrounds.
Enoch Powell had only wanted the educated Doctors, and feared that the
voucher system had allowed in too many common Indians. He delivered his
famous "Rivers of Blood" speech in Wolverhampton. The far Right took this as an excuse to lash out at the new outsiders. My parent's generation had to live through racial abuse, glass ceilings and alienation in a new culture. The result was ghettoization. As all immigrants do, people settled near each other. These were the raindrops that had been blown into the new river of England. But for this generation at least, a thin layer of oil separated them from the local people. Mistrust on both sides existed. As most of the newly arriving immigrants were working classes, they threatened the worst of locals who did not have the skills. The result was the rise of the National Front.
Despite this the Punjabis, Gujaratis and Bengalis settled in towns with
greater economic advantage. For example, many had settled in Ilford in
the East End of London. A rich ex-Colonel who used to live in India wanted to use Indian labor (he saw them as hard working) instead of the locals, and began transporting them to his factory daily, in the West End town of Southall. Soon people just settled here and many took up posts in the airport as well. It was the beginnings of a town, which would be synonymous with Punjabi culture. This also happened in Barking and Gravesend.
Meanwhile the Pakistani community did likewise up North, mostly in Bradford. Overall Sikh Punjabis settled in Birmingham, Slough and London. The Muslim Punjabis were to be found in many working communities throughout the rest of England. Thus the area where the new Punjabi generation was to grow up was mapped. In the early days they all stuck together because of the threat from the far right
groups. As time went by they became comfortable in their new found homes which, unfortunately, melted much of the goodwill that existed before as they would now reflect upon the politics of their home countries - India and Pakistan. Thus the second generation became polarized.
People of Indian descent promoted Sikhism and Punjabiat the
most. The West Punjabis became more immersed with Urdu and their Pakistani identity. As a result these immigrant groups were fighting a battle on two fronts; One with the white racist, and the other amongst themselves. The last unified stand was in Southall in 1979 when Indian and Pakistani youth jointly stood up and took on 200 skinheads in a bloody battle. Suddenly they were noticed.
This generation had grown up with racist taunts and tension, especially
where there were less Asians. The term Asian came into usage to describe all easterners. As a result some totally rejected their
Punjabi identity, whilst others barricaded themselves from the outside
world. Strangely the pattern the community followed was quite similar to the Godfather movies - the parents spoke nothing but their original language, never really having to use English and the second generation
spoke a mix, whilst the third generation mainly English. The Indians began to mix with the advent of Thatcherisation, and did really well in the 1980s. The Pakistani community became even more insular, and placed
religion first. The result was that the Indian community began to westernize swiftly, forgetting all but the external aspects of their religion. The Pakistani community, however, kept stronger ties with “back home”.
The hardest aspect of this period was for the second generation growing up. Who were they? Indian or British? They were angrier than their parents and took on the local racist face on, and many also excelled in education and business. By the early nineties they had constructed a new inclusive image, the British Asian, superseding religious differences and using English as the common uniting language. The third generation grew up with this, and no longer felt threatened. At the same time western liberal ideas had pushed the far right aside in most areas. Bhangra was also accepted by the English
as it became fashionable and mixed its sounds with western music. This was successfully exported back to India.
In reverse the Indians had always had Mumbai cinema that had helped them keep in touch with their background. However, as the parents had been busy working hard, traditional literature and culture was not adequately passed on except religion and Bollywood. As a result this
became the only connection for the new generation.
By the late nineties integration seemed to have occurred. The raindrops from the east were now a part of the local water. September the eleventh changed all that.
Being Asian made everyone an enemy of the state. Paranoia set in, and the so-called British Asians started
differentiating amongst themselves. Everyone became self-conscious. On a positive note the new generation suddenly had a thirst for its past. The Pakistani community leant Urdu and wore their identity with pride. The Sikhs wanted to learn Punjabi and pressed schools and parents to teach them. The result has been that the third generation can read and write better than their parents in these languages. However, this must be kept in proportion, as only a minority of Sikhs are taking up Punjabi, and Muslims are fully concentrating on Urdu. The real negative consequence was the rise of the far right, and the sudden realization that the Pakistani community had remained insular. A clash began
between the victimized Muslims and the far right and that is an altogether different issue.
