KARACHI: A LUMS graduate and a Fulbright scholar studying Divinity at the University of Chicago has been denied US Visa.
Zia Hussain Syed is only one of the 150 Pakistani Fulbright scholars who chose religious studies as his choice of subjects.
He was stopped at the Karachi airport earlier this year and was told that border agents had received a confidential email instructing them not to let him pass. Since then he has reapplied for a new visa and is waiting.
The event comes in wake of President Trump’s proposed ban on entry of nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries – Pakistan not being one of them. It is notable that Zia had undergone security clearances for a whole year before he received his grant and visa in 2016.
Zia did his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and History from Lahore University of Management Sciences and decided to pursue divinity studies for his Master’s degree.
He says, “I think the country needs scholars who are trained in both religion and social sciences in order to deal with the problem of religious intolerance and extremism.” Prior to his Fulbright scholarship, he has also taken courses in Washington as a cultural ambassador. He began his postgraduate studies in September last year in University of Chicago Divinity School. He returned to Pakistan in December, intending to return in January.
His friends and classmates in the US have also taken to social media to raise voice for Zia’s return. His professors at the University of Chicago have expressed hopes of his return to US and resumption of his studies.
An email from the US Consulate General in Karachi said that “individual applicants may experience inconvenience…their application takes longer to process than they had expected.”
Zia has also co-founded a social enterprise, called Ravvish, for promoting religious and cultural tolerance. This project is also showcased on the US State Department website. He has conducted more than a hundred workshops in this regard across five cities in Pakistan.
Belonging to a minority himself, and having lost a family member in a terrorist attack in 2010, he is keen on promoting tolerance and empathy, with students being his primary audience. While waiting in uncertainty regarding the future of his education, he has started working for The Citizens Foundation in Karachi.
