scot47

I am not sure if this will be accessible from outside the UK


BBC Radio 4 - The Deobandis, Episode 1


Very interesting that much of the force of Islamism comes from Deoband in India. The spread as a response to the failure of the First War of |ndependence in 1857 - the events that our schoolbooks called "The Indian Mutiny"

Bipat

Deoband is really hardly mentioned outside of UP State (which does have the highest number of Muslims, although a minority).
Deobandis are Sunni, and Saudi supports such groups with money for Mosques world wide.

scot47

They seem to be quite influential in the Indian Muslim Diaspora in Britain

Bipat

The majority of Deobandi in the UK are from Pakistan. The majority of Muslims in the UK are from Pakistan, Bangladesh next 15%.
So Indian Muslims are a minority of Muslims in UK (I can't find an actual figure) and if as in other communities half are Deobandi the actual number must be small but may be influential I don't know.

The Indian Muslims in our particular UK town are Bohra Muslims

scot47

I just took the figures from the BBC radio 4 Documentary. Generally speaking I am appalled at how little the media here seem to know on this and related subjects.

Bipat

I agree with you. Newspapers also continually refer to "Asians" without any mention of the actual country they originate from.

Pulaski

From the Wikipedia article on Islam in the UK:



So Indian muslims are part of the 14% "Other Asian".

Bipat

Yes obviously, it refers to all Muslims in the UK that originate from other Asian countries.
For example Afghanistan, Malaya, India etc. adding up to 14 % of the total.

(The % of Muslims in the Indian population is similar to the % of Muslims in the UK population).

Pulaski

I would guess that about half the 14% are muslims of Indian origin/ethnicity.

Bipat

Not sure what you mean? You mean half the "other Asian"? --so just 7% of all UK Muslims are of Indian origin?
I would have guessed more but just a guess so probably wrong!

Pulaski

Yes, half the "Other Asian". My guess is partly based on Arabs being broken out separately at only 7%, .... so if 7% were of Indian ethnicity I think they would get their own segment of the pie chart.

I also wonder if the lack of clarity, leading to India being lumped in with the rest of Asia, relates to muslims who either arrived in the UK around the time of partition, or soon after, so may have arrived "from Pakistan" but are really from India, and those whose families came from pre-partition India via East Africa, or some other part of the British Empire, again creating ambiguity as to whether they have Indian or Pakistani heritage.

Bipat

No I don't think so. As I said above 'Asians' are often 'lumped' together, by surveys and the media. (It often really means 'brown' people, Arabs are not classed as brown!!!)
You could say Pakistan is part of India by your reasoning. However it is a very separate and different country and more so since becoming an Islamic Republic in 1956. I think most would have come since then. They would have Pakistani passports. Pakistan allows dual nationality.
(About a million Muslims have migrated from Bangladesh back into India, many illegally). They are still Bangladeshi.

Those from East Africa and elsewhere would be classed as Indian origin.

bakedbean

And confusingly the split is different out here in Asia. You wouldn't say Asians to describe Indians. Asians are Asians.

Here, when you refer to Indians, you're normally talking about race not the country. Does not matter if they originate from Malaysia (not Malaya BTW) or India or Sri Lanka or Britain or wherever. I'd be referred to as Caucasian.

I think in the UK (but correct me if I am wrong as I've not been back there in donkeys years) they don't like to mention race somehow.

Pulaski

Ironically, Indians are actually Caucasians!

bakedbean

I don't think so. I think, historically, maybe the Caucases (sp?). But these days (at least here in Malaysia) refers to "White" skinned Westerners.

Actually it's all bonkers, I'm "white" but am about the same colour of some of my Indian friends. In fact, why are we talking about this? hehe

OK, on with the day for me. Hope you all have a good one.