Pakistan vs Britain. 2/3rds of Muslims consider leaving Britian. What will happen with the Islamicization of Iraqis a decade or two in the future?
csmonitor.com
"...In Britain, there is frustration and helplessness over the suspicion that a former colony could be serving as a school for would-be terrorists.
In Pakistan, meanwhile, there is indignation and resentment at being blamed for acts committed by Britons in Britain. Beneath it all lurk some of the racial and cultural misunderstandings left over from the colonial era....
Pakistan's flirtation with Islamicization really took root during the Soviet occupation of neighboring Afghanistan, when tens of thousands of mujahideen were sustained by Pakistan's security agencies, with covert CIA backing. After 1992, they remained either to fight in Kashmir or to strengthen Islamic parties in Pakistan.
Legacy of colonialism
But ties with Britain are subject to a different historical backdrop. On the positive side, the vestiges of empire have left a legacy of trade (Britain is the second largest investor in Pakistan), cross-cultural influence (from Pakistani literature in Britain to English sports in Pakistan), and migration (700,000 Pakistanis living in Britain).
Cultural misunderstandings persist, however. Strident voices in Britain still question why British-born Pakistanis support Pakistan, not England, in cricket matches. Few would ask the same question of an Australian living in Britain. That mistrust has sharpened since the bombings. Nearly two-thirds of Britain's 1.6 million Muslims have considered leaving the country, a Guardian/ICM poll shows." |
