Author: Aiman Chaudhary

Kashmir has been classified as the most heavily militarized and largest territory occupied by armed forces in the world. The killing of Burhan Wani—hailed as a freedom fighter by some and a militant commander by others—on July 8, 2016, triggered a bloody summer in the valley. It has also brought India and Pakistan

How do you navigate identities when they are fluid and constantly shape-shifting? What happens when the backdrop against which you’ve developed is replaced by a foreign one? Geography is essential to my narrative. It is one of the biggest impediments to my construction of an encompassing self-image. My exploration has

On Dec. 16, 2014, armed gunmen stormed a school in the northern city of Peshawar in Pakistan and massacred 150 students and teachers in the name of Islam. I sat clutching my nephew, who looked so much like the children who were being killed, too shocked to even cry. The

Not knowing what major to declare, questioning my core set of beliefs and identities, losing my last pair of untorn stockings in the laundry room washer … My time in Claremont has been full of existential crises. Luckily I am always being told that these misadventures will propel me toward

This past week, I attended two events that dealt with sexual assault on college campuses—a talk organized by the Pomona Student Union titled ‘Rape Culture’ and a forum at Claremont McKenna College that discussed legal action in light of the new California ‘Yes Means Yes’ law. Unfortunately I left both

My frenzied Facebook newsfeed this past week has hardly been surprising. Pakistan has finally found its first Nobel Peace laureate, and the world its youngest.  To my astonishment, however, most of the posts and analysis I saw did not celebrate this milestone. They bemoaned the circumstances that led up to

The role of transnational advocacy networks and humanitarian aid agencies is considered an indispensable aspect of rehabilitation and reconstruction in war zones. However, the repercussions of their presence in those regions are largely ignored by states that fund such projects. It seems that this question has only been deemed relevant

The end of my first year signaled a time of introspection for me, a time to synthesize all that I had learned at Pomona. This process was indulgent and languorous and included a Sex and the City marathon: a TV show about stylish women navigating the dating culture in New