On a narrow backstreet in old Rawalpindi—Pakistan’s fourth largest city by population—is a small eatery called the Dilbar Hotel. The aging façade, which is illuminated by neon green lights in the evenings, is decorated by an awning that has been covered in a sheet of translucent plastic. There are only two phrases painted on the canvas: “Since 1948,” written in dull gray letters on one side, and the Arabic term, Mashallah, or “God has willed it,” on the other. Only if you look very closely will you see the small…
