Lahore, Pakistan – It’s 36 hours before Eid al-Fitr, the festival that marks the end of a month of fasting for Ramadan. In Javed Abbas’ tiny tailoring shop in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, it is supposed to be the busiest time of the year as customers wait for their new clothes to be ready in time for the celebrations.
This year, however, the motorized sewing machines in Abbas’ basement shop are only rumblin