Paki is racial slur?

[Michin Khel]

word paki is racial slur? present your views

[Nokia_Apridy]

Awo LUFFY da PAKISTAN awo IRAN Hes kar nashta chay

za sa kawam LAR ROR KA ZMA NA KHAPA DA YA ZA TRAY KHAPA YA HAGA

ZMA DA KOR KHBARA DA

CHAY LOKHAY WI GRAB Ba YA KHAMAKHA WI


IRAN (PARSIWAN) AWO PAKISTAN DWARA KHA MAZU KA DI

WOOR ZMUNG PA SAR BAL DA ..........

KA ZMA TAKAY (WORDS) darbanday DRANAY Lagdalay wi WABKha...

[Michin Khel]

Its not like that i am fiercely advocating pakistanis....i am against any kind of racism whether they are pakistanis or blacks or others.

More than pashtuns, we are humans...we as responsible humans should condemn all racist slurs like ******, paki etc

[tor_khan]

^ For my two cents worth Luffy, I dislike the word. Yes, some turn it around and make it out that Paak is in there somewhere, but that is the cock-eyed, optimistic view, in my opinion. I had originally pushed to have it on our banned words list - and if still on, technically, it would have auto-censored. In the early days of the forum it just appeared as ****. Trouble arises, I guess when we key up Pashto in Roman script and you transliterate the word پكښى (in/inside) and end up with the equivalent "pakee" or the "paki", hence its working its way back.

If we were all fluent Pashto typists and didn't resort to Roman script, I would still have it out.

I find the term loaded and it carries a lot of negativity. Having lived through a kind of racism in Europe where from time to time foreign migrants and their local born offspring have had to dodge a whole bunch of insults, I know what is intended when the word is used. So for me it is out and not part of my common lexis, and should be put in the trash can of offensive words alongside "nigg*r" etc (which is still auto-censored, by the way). "Paki", I remember was even graffitied onto the walls of a substation in Copenhagen once I remember, alongside the words, "Go home ... ". The major Pakistani settlements in Europe are not in Denmark, I should add, but in England and clearly this slur had worked its way back into the foreign export of English. My brother even heard this word in French-Arabic speaking Tunis. The irony? His wife is Irish-Ukranian and barely fits the description.

Arguments about the rights/wrongs of Pakistan are one matter, and this is not what is being discussed here, however, is "Paki" a "racist" word? Well to be a Pakistani is not a race, is it, so it's a bit of grey area, however, to the ignorant - and that's what racism is, it wouldn't matter anyway.

[IamDZJ]

i don't really know why it is a racist thing to say but somehow during the early years of high school i realized it was one. i have a friend who grew up in tanga so she is not aware of these things but one day in the c train we were talking and she referred to one of her friends being a "paki". i started kicking her but she kept saying "what?" meanwhile the middle aged canadian born lady gave us death glares.
i myself was so confused when a guy called me a "paki" once. i was like..."actually i am an afghan..? " but yeah, if it is considered a racist slur then we should replace it with some other term with less chances of it being an offensive term.

[IamDZJ]

Pak means pure not paki.

[N.E rocker]

well It depends upon the tone and sense u use it in.But in west i believe it is considered as a racial slur.

[Feroza_Banu]

i wonder what it means when the westerners say "paki" ... where did this word originate from and what does it mean..

i simply say paki because writing pakistani is pain, paki is short for pakistani , i mean for me.

[Admin Khan]

well It depends upon the tone and sense u use it in.But in west i believe it is considered as a racial slur.

Nearly ever Pakistani I know in the west refers to himself as a Paki.

"We Pakis ...., we Pakis deserve..."

[drona]

It is not a racial slur when used for Pakistani origin people.

However it is a racial slur when it is used for somebody from India/Afghanistan/Bangladesh.

[IamDZJ]

It is not a racial slur when used for Pakistani origin people.

However it is a racial slur when it is used for somebody from India/Afghanistan/Bangladesh.

so calling a pakistani an indian is an insult but referring to an indian as an indian is okay because they are indians? how do you manage to overlook the insensibility of such a concept? HOW??

[afghan]

the only people are offended by paki are only pathans, from pashtunkhwah, pashtun dont consider themselves pakies. panjabies sindhis dont mind being called pakies.
the westerners have no idea its being used to insuklt some one. pakistan means the land of pakies, similarly afghanistan for afghans, turkistan for turks, tajikistan for tajiks, uzbekistan for usbecs, why not pakistan for pakies?

[IamDZJ]

people are offended by the intention behind the usage of the word. if some one is not sensitive about it, it is because they are not exposed to that negative intention.

[drona]

so calling a pakistani an indian is an insult but referring to an indian as an indian is okay because they are indians? how do you manage to overlook the insensibility of such a concept? HOW??

Poison Ivy,

I have read many reports about Pakistanis themselves preferred to be called Indians. They are not offended. A number of "Indian" restaurants in Europe/US are owned by Pakistanis.

Pakistan has many negative connotations and associations because of which nobody wants to be called a "Paki" [except Pakis]

The term "Paki" itself is not new. It was used throughout the Cold War by many US commentators, but Pakistanis didn't protest. It has been used since 1960s in Britain [ when Mirpuris started to migrate to UK because of Mangla Dam construction], the Pakistanis didn't protest.

However, only recently when the Indians/Bangalees/Afghans in UK started protesting as they didn't want to be confused with Pakistanis [as almost 75% of Asian violent criminals in UK are Pakistanis/Mirpuris]; the term became a racial slur.

[IamDZJ]

Poison Ivy,

I have read many reports about Pakistanis themselves preferred to be called Indians. They are not offended. A number of "Indian" restaurants in Europe/US are owned by Pakistanis.

Pakistan has many negative connotations and associations because of which nobody wants to be called a "Paki" [except Pakis]

The term "Paki" itself is not new. It was used throughout the Cold War by many US commentators, but Pakistanis didn't protest. It has been used since 1960s in Britain [ when Mirpuris started to migrate to UK because of Mangla Dam construction], the Pakistanis didn't protest.

However, only recently when the Indians/Bangalees/Afghans in UK started protesting as they didn't want to be confused with Pakistanis [as almost 75% of Asian violent criminals in UK are Pakistanis/Mirpuris]; the term became a racial slur.

that is not the point and you know that very well.