Ailia Zehra
The writer is a journalist and the Founding Editor of Dissent Today. She covers politics, human rights, and religious extremism. She tweets at @AiliaZehra.
Features
A Year After Elections, Ex-Waziristan Parliamentarian Unable to Find Justice for...
This report is part of Dissent Today's special series documenting violence and alleged irregularities during Pakistan's 2024 general elections. When Mohsin Dawar narrowly escaped an elaborate assassination attempt in which his vehicle was sprayed with more than 60 bullets about a month before the 2024...
News
Inside the Ongoing Racial Profiling in Islamabad
Islamabad, Pakistan -- Lawyer Imaan Mazari had just got home after getting journalist Matiullah Jan released from the custody of Islamabad police on Nov. 30 when she received a panicked call from the Street Vendors Association of Islamabad, informing her that several vendors had...
Features
‘Self-Censorship Shapes My New Identity’: Exiled Russian Activist Reflects on Leaving...
Russian President Vladimir Putin's onslaught on dissent intensified after his invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This article is part of Dissent Today’s special series documenting the past and present struggles of exiled Russian dissidents who sought political asylum in the U.S. in recent years. Mikhail...
Features
Pro-Palestine DNC Delegate Assaulted For Disrupting Biden’s Speech Vows To Keep...
A pro-Palestine elected member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from Florida, Nadia Ahmad, was hit in the head repeatedly with vertical signs that read "We love Joe" by a group of DNC guests when she disrupted President Joe Biden’s speech on the first...
Human Rights
Unfazed By Police Violence, Mahrang Baloch Continues To Lead Islamabad Protest...
Mahrang Baloch, the activist leading the ongoing sit-in in Islamabad against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan, has stated that the whereabouts of over 100 protestors picked up by the authorities are still unknown. This contradicts the Islamabad police's claim that all protestors...
News
Extremist Groups Back In Action As Blasphemy-Convict Junaid Hafeez’s Appeal Against...
LAHORE After blasphemy-convict Junaid Hafeez’s appeal against his death sentence was finally fixed before the Lahore High Court (LHC) earlier this month, his new lawyer, Saif ul Malook, appears to be mishandling the case, Dissent Today has learnt. Hafeez, a progressive academic who served as a...
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News
Why Is Pakistan Ignoring...
Amid a rise in banned terror group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a delegation of National Democratic...
News
Over 1,400 Dead As...
NEWS DESK: A huge earthquake struck central Turkey and northwest Syria, killing more than 1,400 people while injuring thousands. The...
News
Faisalabad Policeman Dismissed From...
A Faisalabad policeman has been dismissed from his job for celebrating the release of former prime minister Imran Khan,...
News
Wife Of Baloch Man...
Fatima Baloch, the wife of Abdul Hameed Zehri who was abducted in 2021 from Karachi, has accused the law...
News
PTI Camps Outside Imran...
The 'security camps' that were set up earlier this year by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters outside party chairman Imran...
News
Activist Jibran Nasir’s Abduction...
Social media users have condemned the abduction of lawyer and rights activist Jibran Nasir, whose whereabouts remain unknown after...
Latest articles
Human Rights
Rights Groups Sound Alarm As Afghan Taliban Publicly Execute 4 Men In One Day
Afghanistan's Supreme Court announced on Friday the public execution of four men, marking the...
News
‘Will Face Oppression With Courage’: Jailed Activist Mahrang Baloch Writes Letter from Prison
ISLAMABAD: The chairperson of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), Dr. Mahrang Baloch, who was...
News
In Powerful Verdict, Islamabad High Court Upholds Conviction of Rapist While Defining ‘Consent’
ISLAMABAD: Upholding the conviction of a man charged with raping a 20-year-old woman, the...
News
22 Ahmadis Arrested From Place of Worship Under Pressure From Extremist Mob in Sialkot
LAHORE: Under pressure from Islamist extremist groups, police arrested 22 members of the Ahmadi...