ABSTRACT
The religious, cultural and socio-economic position of Pakistani immigrants from Pakistan before their arrival into the United Kingdom is essential in understanding many of the attitudes of the community. The Pakistanis who came to the UK were economic migrants in search of their dream. A large number of immigrants, who originated from Mirpur, came from families who were connected with the land; the majority was small peasant farmers or landless labourers. Roger Ballard argued that the early immigrants were drawn from peasant families with limited land holdings who could use overseas earnings to redeem mortgaged land, as well as buy more to provide sisters with dowries, to build new houses and to purchase agricultural implements. The influx of capital and investment into Mirpur had important repercussions on the traditional power structure, whereby some tenant peasant farmers became independent landowners who had a continuous supply of capital from Britain.
