Questioning Migrants: Muhajir Nationalism at the Limits Of Pakistan

Questioning Migrants explores the rise of Muhajir nationalism in Pakistan. It shows how the migration, settlement, and political recognition of Muhajirs transformed Karachi's urban landscape and reshaped the categories of postcolonial politics. Naqvi traces the dramatic ascent of the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the 1980s, a militant nationalist movement led by non-elite actors who rejected the dominant post-independence idea that Muhajirs were "only Pakistani" (sirif Pakistani). Drawing on rich archival and ethnographic research, Naqvi deconstructs the MQM's distinctive formulation of ethnic national identity as a process of questioning the Muslim nation-state "from within" and "from below".