Identity (dis)

In early June 2018, we appeared on BBC Asian Network’s radio station on the segment called "Big Debate's Little Debate" presented by Qasa Alom. We wanted to discuss the demonisation of the British Mirpuri community by other Asians, particularly British-Pakistanis. In this episode, we will be discussing our experience on the radio show; how the media has been demonising the Mirpuri community for, at least, two decades, unwittingly through the anecdotes and factoids of our gatekeepers from the wider British-Pakistani community. In recent years TV programme-makers producing media content about Britain’s Asian communities have taken a keen interest in the Mirpuri community. Their footage is almost entirely drawn from Mirpuri communities, whilst they appropriate the members as British-Pakistanis, any mention of a self-sustaining Mirpuri community is excluded from the ensuing portrayal. Whenever the explicit mention of Mirpuris is made, it is always done negatively. The production companies also rely