Visiting Lecturer, University of Birmingham, April 2009
Paper given at All Souls College, University of Oxford, 3 April 2009, (re-edited on 23rd April 2009)
http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/bmh/BMH-Britains-Pakistani-communities-and-their-contribution.htm
Britain ‘couldn’t have come through both wars if they hadn’t the Indian army’
Field Marshall Sir Claude Auchinleck[2]
This paper explains the historical and political reasons behind Muslim recruitment during the Second World War. It provides a breakdown of Muslim casualties in the Italian Campaign according to recruitment areas within British India and it highlights the contributions made by communities from these regions. Most significantly, because of the pressing need to restore a sense of identity and self-esteem for young British Muslims today, an attempt is made to establish a link between contemporary British Pakistani communities and these very same regions of recruitment.
The statistics presented here are based on the casualty records of more than 5,000 soldiers who fell liberating Italy. These records were provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).[3] Unfortunately, so far, it has not been possible to locate the files of British Indian servicemen serving in Europe. However, it is hoped that this work will allow British Muslims and other British communities to celebrate a shared past, which would increase mutual understanding and provide a platform for dialogue and the development of a post-colonial British Muslim identity. Therefore this work is part of the story of the sacrifices of Muslim soldiers from territories that are now part of modern-day Pakistan.
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