A White Trail A Journey Into the Heart of Pakistan's Religious Minorities

<p>The formation of Pakistan and the search for an Islamic identity are inextricably interlinked. In recent years, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the country owing to the twists and turns of global politics has complicated matters. The religious intolerance that almost always accompanies fundamentalism has placed the minority communities of Pakistan in a precarious position.<br><br><i>A White Trail</i> is an ethnographic study of these communities and their lives. At a time when almost all accounts of religious minorities in the country focus on the persecution and discrimination they experience, this work delves deeper into their lives, using the occasion of religious festivals to gain a deeper insight into the psyche of Pakistani Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Zoroastrians and Bahais. It seeks to understand, through the oral testimonies of the members of these communities, larger socio-political issues arising from the situation.</p>

<p>Haroon Khalid has an academic background in anthropology. He got his undergraduate degree from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in social sciences with a focus on anthropology and history, and his graduate degree in anthropology from the University of Toronto. He has been a freelance journalist since 2008 and has written over 350 articles for numerous publications, including A<i>l Jazeera, CBC, MacLean's, Scroll. in, Wire.in, TRT World, Himal, Dawn, The News </i>and <i>Express Tribune</i>. He has travelled extensively around Pakistan and has written about minority rights, folk traditions, the politicization of history and heritage, nationalism and identity, and several other topics.<br><br>Haroon is the author of four books-<i>A White Trail</i> (2013), <i>In Search of Shiva</i> (2015), <i>Walking with Nanak</i> (2016) and <i>Imagining Lahore</i> (2018). He has also written two short non-fiction books-<i>Beyond the Other</i> (2016) and <i>The Enigma of Pakistani Identity</i> (2017). In his work, Haroon explores fluid identities, traditions and religious practices that challenge the notion of exclusivist identities, which defines communities in South Asia today. His writings have been translated into many languages, including Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati and Italian. He is based in Toronto, Canada.</p>