Home Fire

The chapter is narrated from Aneeka’s perspective and focuses on the aftermath of Parvaiz’s death, about which readers learn retrospectively. It becomes clear that when Farooq realized that Parvaiz was trying to escape, he quickly found him at the steps to the British consulate in Istanbul and shot him from his car. In the meantime, Aneeka, still trying to fly out to Istanbul and meet her brother, was held up by the security, and she had to come back home. The news of a drive-by shooting outside the British consulate in Istanbul quickly circulated in the media, which stated that “a terror attack has not been ruled out” (243). The information about Parvaiz was also disclosed, and he was described as “the latest name in the string of Muslims from Britain who have joined ISIS” (243). Because Farooq hasn’t been identified, the media assumed that Parvaiz was killed by a representative of a rival jihadi group.

When British journalists ask the Home Secretary to comment, he reminds them about the decision he made soon after taking office to revoke the citizenship of all dual nationals who have left Britain to join ISIS. Therefore, because Parvaiz was a citizen of Britain and Pakistan, he is denaturalized, which means that the UK won’t repatriate his body and instead it will be sent to Pakistan for burial.