Friday, September 23, 2011

'Pak GenNext in US doesn't want to return'


In the new generation of Pakistani immigrants to the US, the ties that bind youngsters to their Asian homeland are fast disappearing, says Jabeen Akhtar, writer and policymaker of Pakistani origin from the US.

"We cannot be expected to speak about what's happening back home in Pakistan and India all the time," Akhtar, who drafts policies for the People for Ethical Treatment to Animals (PETA) in the US, told IANS.

"I know of many immigrant friends who don't want to return home," she said. "Personally, I don't want to go back."

Akhtar, who has made her debut as an novelist with the much-talked-about Welcome to Americastan, is in India to promote her book.

She said she wanted to provide an alternative perspective on the young South Asian Islamic diaspora in Washington, DC.

"Every book on South Asia has arranged marriages and this idea of the home country being an exotic locale," Akhtar said. "The protagonist takes his exotic odyssey back home... it involves an identity crisis. The 'goras' (whites) may like it but the idea is a bunch of crap!"

Her book provides an irreverent snapshot of Pakistani immigrants in the US through the eyes of young Samira, a Pakistani-American woman.

It has been hailed by critics and senior writers like Bapsi Sidhwa and Moni Mohsin as a funny, original and thoughtful look at her community.

Full report here Daijiworld

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