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
6 Bodies Found From...
Six bodies have been found in various parts of Balochistan, including Quetta and Mach in the past three days,...
Human Rights
Rights Groups Sound Alarm...
Afghanistan's Supreme Court announced on Friday the public execution of four men, marking the largest number of executions in...
News
HRW Urges Pakistan To...
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Pakistani authorities to end "arbitrary" arrests of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and supporters...
Election series
Neither Free, Nor Fair:...
This article is part of Dissent Today’s special series on Pakistan’s general elections. Follow the series here. Any comment on the...
Opinion
Ex-Lawmaker Ali Wazir’s Continued...
One has lost count of how many times Pakistan’s former lawmaker, Ali Wazir, has been arrested or forcibly disappeared....
News
Fact-Check: Imran Khan Issues...
Former prime minister Imran Khan recently claimed that over 80 cases have been registered against him while dismissing them...
Latest articles
Extremism watch
Overlooking Homegrown Hate, Pakistan Hesitates to Call Islamabad Blast Anti-Shia Violence
ISLAMABAD - Just hours before a suicide bomber struck the Khadija Tul Kubra Shia...
Opinion
How Imaan-Hadi Conviction Marks the Death of Fair Trial in Pakistan
Last week, a trial court in Islamabad convicted human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir...
Commentary
PTI’s Ambiguous Rhetoric on Taliban Is Dangerous for Pakistan’s Counter-Extremism Efforts
This reporting was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Lauren Brown Fellowship. Islamabad -...
Editor's Picks
How My Daughter’s Trial Exposes Pakistan’s Assault on Human Rights
My daughter, a human rights lawyer, and her husband are currently on trial in...
