This article focuses on postcolonial Pakistan, which is divided on ethnic, economic, religious, linguistic, and political lines, and reveals the negotiations, sufferings and experiences of racism and nationalism. Through the lens of “postcolonial nationalism”, this study examines the heightened consciousness of “national identity”, quest for “belonging”, and the loss of “continuity” as depicted in Kamila Shamsie’s Kartography and Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia. In the current “war on terror” scenario, many Pakistani people are failing to find security and shelter within and across border. The corrupt establishment as well as the religious and political mafias has deprived and shattered people’s belief in themselves by crushing their dreams of freedom. The Pakistani people have stood on the verge of their “promised land” only to watch how callously their beloved home is stricken by the superseding local and global powers under the guises of patriotism and nationalism. Furthermore, the severe consequences of 9/11 have generated a strong sense of alienation, insecurity, and recurrent fear in Pakistani diaspora, who have failed to assimilate in their host countries and remain in search of “home”.

本文关注的是后殖民时期的巴基斯坦，该地区分为种族，经济，宗教，语言和政治路线，并揭示了种族主义和民族主义的谈判，苦难和经验。通过“后殖民民族主义”的视角，本研究考察了卡米拉·沙姆西（Kamila Shamsie）的《Kartography》和哈尼夫·库雷西（Hanif Kureishi）的《郊区的佛陀》（The Buddha of Suburbia）中描绘的对“民族身份”，对“财产”的追求以及对“连续性”的丧失的增强意识。。在当前的“反恐战争”中，许多巴基斯坦人无法在边界内和边界内找到安全和庇护所。腐败的机构以及宗教和政治黑手党粉碎了人们的自由梦想，剥夺了人们对自己的信仰，并破坏了他们的信仰。巴基斯坦人民站在“应许之地”的边缘，只是看着被爱国主义和民族主义掩盖的被取代的地方和全球大国对自己心爱的家园的严重伤害。此外，9/11的严重后果在巴基斯坦侨民中产生了强烈的疏离感，不安全感和持续的恐惧感，这些人未能在其所在国同化并继续寻找“家园”。