Questioning Migrants by Tahir Naqvi presents a rich and thought-provoking anthropological study of Mohajir nationalism, tracing its trajectory from the early years of Partition and refugee settlement to its most volatile phase under the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM – later Muttahida Qaumi Movement) in the 1980s and 1990s. Naqvi foregrounds the constructed and contingent nature of Mohajir identity, showing how it emerged not from primordial attachments but through the historical forces of mass migration, rapid urbanisation and recurring conflict. By weaving together historical and anthropological perspectives, Naqvi exposes a deeper paradox: the universal claims of Muslim nationalism are unsettled and contradicted by the rise of ethno-nationalist politics from below.

What makes this study especially compelling is Naqvi’s claim that Mohajir nationalism occupies a paradoxical position within the larger concept of nationalism. On the one hand, it challenges the universalist idea of a nation; on the other, it grows from the grassroots, reshaping nationalist discourse in Pakistan. As Pakistan’s dominant nationalist language encountered the political ascent of the MQM, this contradiction intensified. For Naqvi, the reconstruction of universality is the defining feature of the MQM: a shift away from traditional notions of the nation toward forms of urban politics embedded in local realities. This reorientation positioned the MQM in a distinctive space, negotiating between universal claims and the lived conditions of urban marginality, while mobilising Mohajir youth to redefine their community’s political future.

In this light, Naqvi describes the Muhajir as a “non-sovereign subject”—not an organic, self-actualising entity rooted in a mythic past, but a population defined by displacement, exile, and precarious negotiation. The MQM’s rise as a political party is closely tied to this condition, reflecting politicised struggles over housing, employment, infrastructure and security. Competing visions of identity circulated: the Urdu-speaking intelligentsia sought to link Mohajirs to the cultural ethos of North India or pan-Islamism, while some progressives called for integration into Sindh’s political landscape. Naqvi argues that the MQM rejected both, instead reframing the Mohajir as a people of exile and sacrifice.

The book’s methodological approach is equally noteworthy. Naqvi offers a thorough theoretical and historical examination of Mohajir nationalism, based on fieldwork in Karachi and London—two central sites in the political world of the MQM. Researching a militant ethnonationalist party is fraught with challenges, especially the temptation to sensationalise. Naqvi, however, avoids this pitfall, producing a nuanced, layered narrative that unsettles many conventional assumptions about ethnonationalism. His training in critical theory further distinguishes the work. By bringing concepts from political theology into conversation with MQM’s ideological vocabulary, Naqvi reframes notions of qurbani (sacrifice), loyalty and exile in ways rarely seen in accounts of Pakistani politics.

Unlike the psychologically driven interpretive frameworks found in works such as Oskar Verkaaik’s Migrants and Militants and Nichola Khan’s Mohajir Militancy in Pakistan, Naqvi challenges some of the underlying assumptions about ethno-nationalist militancy. He argues that Mohajir nationalism was not inherently violent; rather, it emerged from the dislocations, migration, and the frictions of urban life that unsettled universalist notions of nationhood. Naqvi’s book rejects essentialised readings of Mohajir violence as manifestations of a pathological psyche, instead situating them within broader social and historical transformations.

Naqvi’s theoretical framework is especially innovative. He approaches the issues of migration, refugee settlement and evacuation in the early years of Partition through a biopolitical lens, what he terms the “official biopolitics of evacuation and rehabilitation.” Whereas earlier studies typically cast the refugee problem and Mohajir nationalism in terms of memory, longing and displacement, Naqvi reframes them as matters of population management. In this perspective, the state treated Mohajirs as a statistical entity—a numerical reality to be organised, resettled and absorbed.

By adopting the term Muhajir, which has sacred ties to the Prophet Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina, the state sheds more light on this dynamic. Through this historical perspective, Naqvi suggests a new framework for understanding nationalism. At its core is his idea of the “transcendental political subject of hijrat”—people who broke their spiritual ties to the past in search of a new homeland. As a result, migration as hijrat became a standard ideal for making political claims over land. According to Naqvi, the first generation of Muhajirs was the first to reinterpret hijrat as giving up ancestral land, which in turn gave them a moral and political claim to Pakistan’s new territory.

The book also places these dynamics within the context of wider changes in Pakistan’s political history. Naqvi shows how Ayub Khan’s rise to power in the 1950s reshaped the country’s politics. The introduction of the Basic Democracies system was meant to eliminate party politics and centralise power in the government. According to Naqvi, this system strengthened the state’s authority at the local level and gave the new state a focus on territory, as it sought to gain legitimacy over a population that was ethnically diverse. This analysis highlights how the structure of state power influenced the environment in which Mohajir identity emerged.

Naqvi deliberately chose an ethnographic approach for this analysis. He conducted participant observation in three low-income neighborhoods in Karachi – Lines Area, Golimar (Gulbahar) and Orangi Town, where Mohajirs make up the majority. These areas were hotspots of violence in the 1990s due to unplanned development and a lack of state authority. By studying these neighborhoods up close, Naqvi gained a unique understanding of how everyday life shapes people’s sense of identity under extreme urban conditions. His interviews with first- and second-generation Mohajirs in the Lines Area and Golimar uncovered deep-seated concerns, including fear of being left out, anxiety about belonging, and questions about civic legitimacy. When paired with personal stories and urban planning documents, these accounts offer valuable insights into Karachi’s settlement patterns. Both official and unofficial planning practices played a crucial role in understanding how the state has created marginalised spaces within the city.

Ultimately, Questioning Migrants is a powerful exploration of political subjectivity in Pakistan. It challenges conventional understandings of nationalism and shows how universal ideals are constantly refracted through urban struggles and historical contingencies. Naqvi’s work demonstrates that to analyse political and social formations, one must look beyond the narrow frameworks of ethnicity and nationalism. The book stands out not only for its theoretical innovation but also for the depth of its ethnographic insight, making it an essential contribution to the anthropology of nationalism and South Asian politics.

References:
Verkaaik, Oskar. Migrants and militants: Fun and urban violence in Pakistan. Princeton University Press, 2004.
Khan, Nichola. Mohajir militancy in Pakistan: violence and transformation in the Karachi conflict. Routledge, 2010.

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