Report warns about ‘unseen’ Kashmiris
THE size of Rochdale’s Kashmiri population has been massively underestimated, leaving thousands ‘unknown and unseen’ according to a new report.
The study finds that the lack of a ‘Kashmiri’ category in surveys used by the council, government and other public bodies has led to the specific issues affecting the community being almost entirely overlooked.
Research by the University of Manchester puts the borough’s Kashimri population at nearly 15,000 while the 2011 census put the number of Kashmiri adults at just 1,026.
The analysis suggests two-thirds of the identified Pakistani community in Rochdale are actually of Kashmiri heritage - and therefore the largest South Asian community in the borough.
And it says the poor awareness of Kashmiris among public services is mainly because they are not properly included in ethnic monitoring systems - meaning they remain an ‘unknown and unseen’ community.
The report quotes a ‘Mr N’ - an elected member at the time the research was carried out - who summed up how flawed monitoring systems had led to the Kashmiri community’s ‘invisibility.’
He said: “I don’t like the term separate, but looking at the Kashmiri community as separate means seeing it as having its own needs that are different from other communities.
“I don’t know what those needs are because no one’s asked the community, so until somebody does I don’t know.
“There’s a need for more recognition and understanding of the Kashmiri community.”
The roots of Kashmiri’s marginalisation appears to have its roots in the unequal relationship between Pakistan and Azad (free) Kashmir - where almost all Kashmiris in Rochdale come from.
As those from ‘Azad’ Kashmir travelled on Pakistani passports they were classified as Pakistanis in the British ethnic monitoring structures.
Pahari - the mother tongue of Rochdale Kashmiris - is not recognised on a par with other ‘community languages’ used by public bodies and this is one of the key factors which have led to marginalisation.
The borough’s Kashmiri community suffers ‘significantly higher’ rates of unemployment than other south Asian minorities and lags behind in terms of educational attainment.
Awareness about healthy living provisions in Rochdale borough is low and disability and long-term illness is particularly prevalent among the over-50s.
Rochdale Kashmiris also highlighted a fear of being the victim of crime, including a fear of being physically attacked because of their ethnic origin or religion.
There were also serious concerns that young Kashmiris were more vulnerable to radicalisation and exploitation by criminal gangs particularly those involved in selling drugs.
Rochdale council will share the report’s recommendations with its partner agencies asking for the inclusion of the Kashmiri category in their ethnic monitoring systems.
Other recommendations include providing language support to Pahari speakers, health campaigns targeted at the Kashmiri community and devising ‘specific activities for Kashmiri youth to increase their sense of positive identity and belonging.’
Many are not within the council’s direct control.