How city of Mirpur became 'Little England'
Charming, how closely the bast@rd child of British colonialism (Pakistan) is connected to its mother England. But the ending is dark.
First it started off as a continuation of England's colonial love with Pakistan, and this story begins with the flooding of a river in the north-west of the Indian subcontinent -
But the backflow dream apparently looks like its about to end, and the journey westward, Out of India, looks set to become permanent:In the 1960s, the original town, where Saleem lived - along with scores of villages around it - was submerged.
With the help of an English firm, Pakistan had built a huge hydro-electric dam on the Jhelum River close by.
It meant that more than 100,000 people had to leave their homes.
But the British government needed more workers at the time, and decided to give many of the Mirpur evictees permits so they could go to the UK to work in factories in the Midlands and the north of England.
Future fears
But then he raises, as he sees it, a bigger issue.
"I give it another generation or two, then these links will be over anyway," Zahoor says.
He feels a process of disengagement between Mirpuris in Britain and their place of origin has suddenly started to accelerate, thanks to problems in both countries.
"In the UK, money's become tight," he says, "and not so many can afford to spare enough even to pay the expensive fares to fly here, so young people aren't getting to know the place."
"And in Mirpur, the authorities have managed things so poorly," says Zahoor, "it will put people off investing."
Rafay, the baker, has similar worries.
"Look at the energy problems in Pakistan," he says.
"Gas and electricity are unreliable and it affects business.
"We're almost running our bakery here as a charity to help give people employment, but others won't be able to afford to do that."
Fear about security in Pakistan is also likely to be playing its part, and it could all spell the beginning of the end, at least, of Mirpur's reputation as a Little Britain in Pakistan.
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) midway.
Oh dear! In your 60s that might come as a shock, having lived or convinced yourselves all your life that your forefathers didn't covert but were in one of the invading muslim herds.
