However, following the 1962 Burmese coup d'état by General Ne Win and a nationwide nationalization program, living conditions suddenly became difficult for all immigrants. The 1962 coup led to a swift exodus of South Asians from Burma, and many Muslims began returning to India and Pakistan. With the growing popularity of the Burmese National Movement post-World War II, opposition against the presence of South Asian and Muslim immigrants had begun to grow in Burma. South Asian Muslims were losing their prospects of being equal citizens and were beginning to discover themselves as a foreign minority in independent Burma. The changing hostile atmosphere triggered a mass exodus of South Asians and the Pakistani community significantly declined. Those Muslims of Pakistani origin who chose to remain were confronted by an increasingly nationalist Burmese movement and were forced to quietly assimilate into Burmese society rather than being able to freely emphasize a separate ethnic identity.