Date: 15 May 2025

This talk examined the arrival of European racing pigeons in Pakistan and the capture of Pakistani “spy pigeons” at the India-Pakistan border, analyzing the cultural values of welcome and refusal that shaped these events. Drawing on Jacques Derrida’s theory of hospitality and hostility, and Waris Shah’s concept of badal (reciprocity), I explored how pigeons, as more-than-human Others, challenged notions of home and sovereignty in South Asia’s shifting political landscapes.