Islamic Extremism among British Pakistanis

Islamic Extremism among British Pakistanis is a phenomenon which is getting increasing attention in recent years partly because British citizens can easily travel to United States of America with minimal scrutiny without a visa under the Visa Waiver Program .
Background
Britain is home to a sizeable community of Muslims of Pakistani descent. More than a million people of Pakistani heritage call Britain home, only Saudi Arabia has a larger Pakistani expatriate community. Most British Pakistanis are law abiding citizens however according to Farzana Shaikh of Chatham House who is an expert on Pakistani affairs 'there is a significant number who are radicalized'. Bruce Riedel a former CIA officer and an expert on counterterrorism said that British Pakistanis are probably the best mechanism Al-Qaeda has for launching an attack in North America. Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated in December 2008 that at any given time British security has to deal with 20 terror plots involving British Pakistanis. British government believes that around 4000 British Muslims have received training in terrorist camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Causes
Gareth Price, head of the Asia Program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London stated that British Pakistanis are more likely to be radicalized as compared to other muslim communities in Britain. British involvement in Iraq War is thought to be a contributory factor. Another factor may be that more than half of Britain's Pakistanis have ancestral ties to Kashmir, the disputed territory that's a source of tension between Pakistan and India. So it's possible that resentment over that festering feud plays a role in turning some young British Pakistanis toward IslamismAlthough in a research paper in 2008, sixty four percent of British-Pakistani said they backed an amicable solution to the Kashmir issue through dialogue between Pakistan and India, 18% supported Pakistan’s stance and only 4% favored a solution through jihad.
Notable extremists
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh convicted murderer of Daniel Pearl was a Briton of Pakistani descent. In 2004 British police arrested eight British citizens of Pakistani origin on suspicion of preparing for a terrorist attack.
Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain who were involved in 7 July 2005 London bombings were all British citizens of Pakistani descent. Rashid Rauf was a British Pakistani suspect in 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot and was killed in drone attack by CIA in November 2008 in Pakistan. Most of others charged in this plot were also British Pakistanis including Ahmed Abdullah Ali. Rangzieb Ahmed the highest ranking Al-Qaeda operative in Britain was a British Pakistani His associate Habib Ahmed arrested in 2006 Cheetham Hill terrorism arrests was also a Briton of Pakistani heritage. Several accused in 2007 plot to behead a British Muslim soldier were also British Pakistanis. Omar Khyam the ringleader of Fertilizer Bomb plot was also of Pakistani descent as were most others arrested for this plot in Operation Crevice.
Responses
The US has considered requiring British Pakistanis to obtain a visa before travelling to the United States. British Pakistani community has run some anti extremism advertisements in Pakistan.
Challenges
A 2008 editorial in The Times warned against singling out British Pakistanis as being more extreme than British Muslims in general:

Gordon Brown's statement made in Pakistan this week that “three quarters of the most serious terrorist plots investigated by UK authorities are linked to al-Qaeda sympathisers in Pakistan” is true, but a little misleading. The direct terrorist threat to Britain comes above all from members of the Muslim minority in Britain. These are mainly of Pakistani origin, and retain close links to their relatives in Pakistan; so of course the threat to Britain has an especially Pakistani cast...It would be equally true to say that a majority of the terrorist plots investigated by the French authorities have a link to Muslim North Africa, since that is where most French Muslim families originate.

A study at the University of Cambridge challenged beliefs about Islamic extremism among British Pakistani and other British Muslim students. According to an article in The Guardian:

The University of Cambridge research, based partly on in-depth interviews with 26 students at UK universities, found that most young British Muslims are opposed to political Islam and are more likely to join Amnesty International than al-Qaida...Dr June Edmunds, who carried out the research, said: 'The findings show that the young Muslims best equipped to lead radical opposition to western society are also among the least inclined to do so...Although a minority have extreme political views, most are concerned about human rights and social democracy...The UK in particular now hosts a new generation of Muslims who are more confident of their national identity and more politically engaged than their parents.'...More than half of the participants described themselves as British, and 91% either as British or "British-hyphenated" such as British-Pakistani.

The study drew criticism from Anthony Glees, professor of politics and director of Buckingham University's centre for security and intelligence studies, who accused the study 'of trying to prove that British universities are not "hotbeds of Islamic radicalism" on the basis of "flimsy and uncompelling" research.'<ref name="camb"/>

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