Ahad Khan \u201919 spent winter break of his junior year learning about ways he could be murdered.<\/p>\n
He had seen it happen in his own family. His uncle was killed in 2010. His cousin and brother-in-law were injured in a terrorist attack.<\/p>\n
As members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Khan and his family are \u201cthe wrong kind of Muslims\u201d in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI belong to a sect of Islam that Pakistan\u2019s constitution declares as \u2018non-Muslim,\u2019 and that has led to a lot of persecution,\u201d Khan says. \u201cWe believe there should be no revenge. You may persecute us, but we will not retaliate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahmadis in Pakistan are not legally allowed to carry the Quran, visit a normal mosque, openly cite the Islamic call to prayer, make the pilgrimage to Mecca, or even vote. Those who violate the law are subjected by the government to fines, imprisonment, and sometimes death. Some citizens take the law into their own hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of young students receive direct threats, especially men, because if you\u2019re well-educated and if you are male, you have the potential to be a contributing member of society. And that doesn\u2019t sit well with those who are trying to maintain the status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khan went back home for a visit the winter of his sophomore year and had trouble trying to leave his house at times. Home wasn\u2019t safe anymore, so when he came back to Wabash, he decided to apply for asylum.<\/p>\n
Khan and Director of International Programs Amy Weir worked on his application every day over his junior-year winter break\u2014not much money, no personal lawyer, and only one shot at success.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Weir had previously worked with family-based immigration as a paralegal, so she knew of a couple local lawyers who specialized in asylum and refugee law. With what little money he had, Khan was able to afford an hour-long consultation with an immigration lawyer in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlong with the application,\u201d Weir explains, \u201cyou have to write a supporting letter that shows proof you are being persecuted. And if he and I were not convincing, we both knew there wouldn\u2019t be another opportunity for this.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed to find stories about people who were similar to him\u2014Western-educated Ahmadi men who went back to Pakistan and faced consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Members of Khan\u2019s family also stepped in to help him through the process. A cousin who had been granted asylum gave them copies of his filing and supporting documents. Family members wrote letters confirming the persecution they have faced in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
His father came to the United States to help with the application and provided photographs, including one of a sign that had been placed on the family\u2019s gate that read, \u201cInfidels live here. Persecute them as you will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weir says, \u201cWe wanted to show that, if he can\u2019t stay here and has to go back to Pakistan, this kind of death is probably waiting for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis wasn\u2019t a project or an assignment,\u201d Khan says, \u201cthis was a legal document. This was serious stuff! I was just so grateful for all of the support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dean of the College Scott Feller<\/strong> was impressed by Khan\u2019s persistence and focus.<\/p>\n \u201cFacing this situation, most of us would have been bitter and decried the motives of others while bemoaning our fate, but Ahad struck out boldly on his own by researching asylum options, applying, and at the same time educating all around him on the effects of decisions made by political leaders. He did all that while excelling in the classroom and as a campus leader.\u201d<\/p>\n Khan\u2019s advisor, Professor of Political Science Scott Himsel \u201985, says that\u2019s simply the way his student comes at life.<\/p>\n \u201cI marvel at how understanding and kind Ahad is even when he is defending a position zealously. He has so many traits our society needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Khan\u2019s application was submitted in January 2017 and, in an interesting turn of events, a process that normally takes years took just months. A few days after his application was filed, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced they were facing an overload of asylum applications. To deal with the backlog, they decided to address the most recent applications first.<\/p>\n Khan got the first bit of good news the summer of his junior year at the Louisville Legal Aid Society, where he was the Jeffrey Been \u201981 Intern. Weir sent him an urgent email\u2014the College had received a document addressed to him from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.<\/p>\n \u201cAmy had worked with me through this entire process, so I asked her to open it.\u201d<\/p>\n Khan\u2019s interview for asylum was scheduled for two weeks out.<\/p>\n \u201cFor some people, it takes two to three years, and I got mine just two months after applying. Unheard of.\u201d<\/p>\n Mentors at his internship encouraged Kahn to take the time he needed to get ready.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve learned at Wabash that when something exciting like this happens, you prepare. You get ready to put your best foot forward.\u201d<\/p>\n He met his attorney in Chicago, the asylum interview went well, and Khan got an unexpected gift on the drive home. His roommate of three years, Dominic Rivers \u201918, had played and sung a song and sent it via text.<\/p>\n \u201cHe made a recording of Bob Dylan\u2019s \u2018The Times They Are a-Changin\u2019,\u2019 and, at the end, said, \u2018This one is for you, Ahad.\u2019 He cooked dinner for me and a small group of friends, we jammed and celebrated.\u201d<\/p>\n Two weeks later, Khan learned his application for asylum had been granted.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt a big sense of relief. It was something I had worked so hard for, and so many Wabash people had helped me. The best feeling was knowing that I was in the right spot here\u2014it felt like this was an accomplishment not just for me, but for Wabash.\u201d<\/p>\n Khan is nowofficially an asylee and is in the process of becoming a permanent resident. Once he receives his green card, it will be another four years before he\u2019ll become a citizen.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a political science major. I want to feel what it\u2019s like to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n Khan has taken his political science degree to Dallas, Texas, where he will be working in the financial crime compliance division for Goldman Sachs.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t tell me exactly what it means or what I\u2019ll be doing.\u201d Khan laughs. \u201cIt\u2019s very complex, and the trajectory is something I never would have thought about, but I\u2019m very excited.\u201d<\/p>\n He hopes to attend law school eventually because, not surprisingly, he believes his calling is in the legal field of human rights.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, there is Islamophobia in the United States, but it is not persecution. We have full freedom to practice, profess, and preach our faith. That is a basic human right. Everyone should be able to, but it wasn\u2019t the case for 19 years of my life.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica is a very special place to me, and I am so grateful to be here. But people in the United States take the inherent rights they have for granted\u2014and that\u2019s okay! But we have to think about people in other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ahad Khan \u201919 spent winter break of his junior year learning about ways he could be murdered. He had seen it happen in his own family. His uncle was killed in 2010. 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