Mohsin Hamid’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” is a novel based on a Pakistani man, Changez. Although the book takes place over one night, Changez explains his whole experience of having lived in the United States both before and after the 9/11 attacks. The twin tower attacks were a huge turning point of his American experience and a big theme of this novel.
The 9/11 attacks had a very huge impact on the treatment of Arabs, South Asians, and Muslims in America. In the aftermath of the attacks, the US Government implemented special programs such as the USA Patriot Act and the National Security Entry-Exit Registration Program also known as the Special Registration program requiring male non-citizens from 25 countries above the age of 16 to register with the Department of Homeland and Security. Although these programs were implemented as a measure of counter-terrorism, they unfairly targeted a whole demographic by mixing immigration with questions of national security. This Special Registration program put 13,100 people into deportation proceedings between 2002 and 2003.
A lot of families were forced to flee because of fear of getting deported. In the Coney Island Avenue neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, which is predominantly a Pakistani and Bangladeshi neighborhood, a public school principle said that 50 of his students had disappeared. If you take into account that the average number of people in these families was 6, this would mean that roughly 300 people fled this poverty stricken neighborhood. This also impacted the business and commercial industry of this area with 30 out of approximately 150 businesses owned by Muslims going out of business .
When thinking about all of these different after effects that the 9/11 attacks had on Muslims and South Asians in America, it is easy to see why Changez had the feelings he did towards a nation that he once felt like he belonged in and had given him so many opportunities to succeed in his professional career.
I was less than two years old when 9/11 took place. Although I heard stories from my parents about where we were when the news broke and heard the many patriotic stories about the firefighters who went into the building, the racist repercussions after the attack are new information to me. This presentation was very eye opening for me as I was not aware of how many people were deported from the US after this event. It is sad to me that 9/11 happened years ago and there seems to still be anti-muslim behavior in the US. This presentation was helpful to understand the true extent of what Changez was dealing with in the story.
This is very interesting, something I never knew about, I was 2 when 9/11 happened. I remember my mother saying that the parents were trying to get their kids out of school. It’s sad that programs that say their purpose is of taking action with tragedy happens such as is this, the purpose is flawed with being blinded or biased to who they accuse. Like your works cited says, ignorance repeats itself. I never knew that families were forced to leave the country because of getting deported, and the kids disappearing from the school was probably shocking for everyone. This is what happens when people make trouble with questions that do not have to do with counter-terrorism and the questions are aligned with their ignorance.
You did a job bringing up different perspectives of what is going on during 9/11. I know a lot of muslims and middle eastern were considered terrorists and had a hard time. I didn’t realize that people were trying to leave the country because they were scared to be deported. I also didn’t know that middle eastern families were required to report to national security. This is an unfair targeting towards a group of people, which isn’t right. I can understand why many people including Changez have an internal conflict of having a hard time figuring out their identity after coming to the states.
This was such a fantastic and well written showcase to read. This one in particular caught my eye because although I was born just a month after the events of 9/11 and didn’t live through it how most people did, I am from New York and have family members who were impacted by the events. It is very important to realize how the event affected the lives of Arabs, South Asians, and Muslims in America because it is not something that people really discuss. I think it was a very important subject for you to shine a light on for all of us to read about and I appreciate it. The affects this has had on all of these innocent people is not fair and must be very hard.
This was a wonderful presentation to read, in the sense that it all was pieced together well and the research helped explain the overall. Specifically, you included what the people of the Muslim community had to go through after the 9/11 attack. To keep their families safe, they fled! The impact that that has on a family is unmountable, but it also shows us what state that our country was in at the time. There is simply no excuse for treating that particular ethnic group of our community that way, even if they were what our superiors found to be “The best way”.
That was a very nice presentation! The National Security Entry-Exit Registration Program is not something that I have not heard of previously. It is horrible that the results of the program deported over 13,000 people from the United States. The impact of this act also caused a major problem for businesses in areas that featured major population centers of these groups of people. This was a very important topic to bring to the forefront of our attention. Maybe if we have more awareness of the consequences of actions like this, the negative impact can be minimized and more people protected rather than suspected.