Saving T2F: For All Our Sakes – Adil Najam

Adil Najam

I have been to The Second Floor (T2F to friends) twice. First, in September 2007 when I tagged along with Teeth Maestro Awab Alvi to a Karachi bloggers meetup there while passing through Karachi. Next, more recently, in December 2008, when invited by Zakintosh Zaheer Kidvai and Sabeen Mahmud to give a talk there on democracy in the Muslim world (here for how I got there; here for what I did there).

Each time I left enthused and invigorated. Felling good that such a place not only existed, but seemed to be thriving, in Karachi. I have mentioned to many that the fact that it did was testimony to the intellectual vibrancy of Pakistan and Pakistanis. A sign, even if a small one, that all has not been lost. A sign, more importantly, that the young in Pakistan are not ready to give up. Not just yet.

It was with a heavy heart, therefore, that one heard the news that T2F is about to become homeless (their landlord has asked that the space they now occupy be vacated). Sabeen Mahmud, the moving force being T2F, has made clear that T2F will indeed find a way to continue. But they need help.

For all our sakes and for the sake of the daily statements of resilience and resistance that T2F makes on all our behalf, it is important that T2F survives and thrives. In a world where everything around us seems to be falling apart, and where so many just causes demand our attention and support, T2F’s survival may seem like a small thing. But it is not small. Because the statement it makes is big.

More importantly, this is something that we can do. Unlike so many of our other challenges, this one is not just worth doing, it is doable. If we can all chip in to help T2F survive this crisis, we will not merely be saving a much-needed fledgling institutions, we will be giving ourselves the reassurance that that resistance can work, that resilience is rewarded, that a few good people can make a difference. In the long and hard battles that lie ahead of us, that reassurance is priceless.

I understand that for some of our readers T2F may just be a “Karachi thing.” It is more than that. I urge people to visit its website, learn about its purpose, and explore its events, to find out just why it evokes the type of passion that it does.

On all our reader’s behalf, we at ATP will be making a contribution from our advertising revenues to T2F’s survival. I hope that those who can, will help; in whatever way they can.