Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy, and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Further details can be found at: www.ourpioneers.org.uk
Blood. sweat and tears of the first generation of Brummie Mirpuri’s
Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we are seeking to interview first generation Kashmiris from the Mirpur region who made Birmingham their home.
Do you know of someone who came to Birmingham as a first generation MIrpuri who would be willing to share their journey from Mirpur to Birmingham over a video interview?
The Mirpuri diaspora community started arriving in Birmingham from 1920’s prior to the partition of British India in 1947. Many migrated from Mirpur via Bombay to work on merchant ships. The next large migration took place in the 1960s following the construction of the Mangla Dam by the Pakistani Government which led to Mirpuri Muslims migrating to the UK to work as labourers.
Today Brummie Mirpuri’s play a huge role in making Birmingham to amazing, successful, creative and diverse international city it is. They are some of the most successful businesspeople, some of the most successful civil servants, three of the eight Birmingham Members of Parliament are of Mirpuri origin, over 20 of the 101 serving elected Councillors are from the Mirpuri community and there are many other such success stories.
Brummie Mirpuri’s with multiple identities of growing up in inner city Birmingham, practising Islam as Muslims with roots to the Kashmir region of Pakistan have found it difficult succeed. Furthermore, there are not enough positive role models from within the community or rather there is not enough showcasing of success stories that has resulted in a lack of aspiration.
Over the decades, Mirpuri’s in Birmingham have broken glass ceilings. They have gone on to achieve huge success but there is very little information about these journeys – we have not captured the sacrifices made, we do not understand how this community arrived and settled in Birmingham and helped rebuild Birmingham and the country after the world war, there is a lot of will to capture these stories particularly of the first generation – many of whom are no longer alive.
All the project’s digital resources, including learning materials, are shared under CC BY 4.0k.