{"id":2100,"date":"2023-02-22T10:40:13","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T09:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/convivialthinking.org\/?p=2100"},"modified":"2023-02-23T19:39:06","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T18:39:06","slug":"visa-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/convivialthinking.org\/index.php\/2023\/02\/22\/visa-regime\/","title":{"rendered":"Visa Regime"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Aftab Nasir<\/em><\/p>\n

To them, I am but,<\/p>\n

the skin of a darker shade<\/p>\n

the stench of a distant land<\/p>\n

a petty scholar\u2019s senseless thoughts<\/p>\n

the child of a lesser God<\/p>\n

an unsettling memory of some troubled past<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Am I not a victim?<\/p>\n

of some unjust distribution<\/p>\n

of some violent delights<\/p>\n

of a split identity<\/p>\n

of a ruptured subjectivity?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No,<\/p>\n

I need no sympathy<\/p>\n

no pity, no repatriation<\/p>\n

How dare they!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How dare they boil me down to some numbers?<\/p>\n

to some \u201cstructural\u201d programs with out-comes<\/p>\n

How dare they!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am a whole, a mess, a beauty,<\/p>\n

an intelligence in my own right(s)<\/p>\n

my blood still runs underneath their \u201cdevelopment\u201d<\/p>\n

yet they deny me entry!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Time may come<\/p>\n

when we would need warrant to cross the river,<\/p>\n

swamp or the road our ancestors trailed<\/p>\n

I wonder if the lords of the skies\u2026<\/p>\n

would one day establish<\/p>\n

That demarcation of the skies is MANDATORY<\/p>\n

For the sake of their \u2018\u2019development\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Air ought to be branded<\/p>\n

for the sake of \u2018\u2019progress\u201d,<\/p>\n

And<\/p>\n

the Birds must be restricted and restrained<\/p>\n

for Peacemaking as Civilization demands<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and the goldenness of the eagle of the global South<\/p>\n

terrorises the bald eagle from some States;<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Its nothing but Visa Regime<\/p>\n

Stretched to the air and on and on<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still, to them, I am but\u2026..<\/p>\n

senseless thoughts of a scholar, oh no.. a security threat?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aftab Nasir<\/strong> is Assistant Professor at Information Technology University, Lahore, Pakistan. His research interests are post-colonial epistemologies, sociolinguistics, psychoanalysis, political sociology and development studies. The above intervention was presented at the DecolDEV panel session on “Some scholars are more equal than others. Visa barriers, passport privilege and global academic mobility”<\/a>.\u00a0 Aftab is co-founder of the Convivial Thinking collective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Aftab Nasir To them, I am but, the skin of a darker shade the stench of a distant land a petty scholar\u2019s senseless thoughts the child of a lesser God an unsettling memory of some troubled past<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[25,35,24,38],"class_list":["post-2100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speaking","tag-decolonization","tag-higher-education","tag-poetry","tag-racism"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t