Eid ul Fitr 2015

"Haza Eiduna"—"This is our festival." Taqabbalallâhu minnâ wa minkum. "[May] God accept from us and you [our fasts and...

Posted by iFaqeer on Friday, July 17, 2015

Hope—vs The Lack Thereof

This bears capturing:

@mkatju @beenasarwar @latimes I am not swayed by your hopelessness. I am moved by my beliefs. Thank you for sharing your thoughts though

— Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) May 28, 2015

Respect what others adore—even the Flying Spaghetti Monster

As a Muslim, I have always considered myself under clear directives from The Prophet himself not to diss anything that...

Posted by Sabahat Ashraf on Sunday, May 3, 2015

An Emigrant's Reasons

Rangers (Pakistan's paramilitary
Border Security Force) warn
Karachiites to carry
computerised ID cards at all times

Immigrants from the #ThirdWorld and those "at home" often agonize about why we left. People from Karachi, we often observe in Silicon Valley and other places, often do not move back home--even less so than, say Lahorewallas. See, for example the poem"Jo thha kya thhora thha?" by the diasporic poet Irfan Murtaza. And maybe the rebuttals like this one.  In a week where Africa's tired and poor are drowning in the Mediterranean as they do something about their yearning to breath free, I can't help but think that too many of people who get the chance to drive BMWs in Silicon Valley and beyond have have convinced even themselves that they left for purely economic reasons.

I remember being given a lift to the airport in Karachi a few years ago (on the last trip while my father was still alive) by a friend. Admiring the ride (it was a 5 Series) my brother asked "So why did we emigrate?" To which I do remember saying "Well, economics is not the only reason."

This morning brings this little gem of a news report that, at least to me, lays out a lot of the why and what.

PS: Yes, I used the word "emigrant" in the subject line very advisedly. The real word that identifies my and mine sticks in too any craws.

ISI Has LUMS Balochistan Panel Cancelled