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
Aurat March Karachi Organisers...
The organisers of Aurat March Karachi have released their manifesto, demanding rights for marginalised groups, including the working class,...
News
Islamabad Police Claim To...
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad police on Thursday said two suspects in the F-9 Park rape incident were killed in an...
News
5 Reasons Why Trials...
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said that former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan would be...
News
‘Threat To Journalistic Freedom’:...
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to not criminalise criticism of the Pakistan Army. Cabinet members...
News
UN Expert Declares Israel’s...
A United Nations expert has informed the Human Rights Council that she considers Israel's military actions in Gaza since...
Editor's Picks
Pakistan Army’s Claim Of...
The Pakistan military denies its involvement in enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and genocide, but it has very little credibility...
Latest articles
Human Rights
Pakistan’s Top Court Upholds Death Sentence in Murder of Woman Killed For Obtaining Divorce
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s highest court on Saturday rejected an appeal by a man convicted...
Human Rights
Pakistan’s Civic Freedoms Deteriorate Amid Crackdown on Dissent: Report
ISLAMABAD - Civic freedoms in Pakistan have deteriorated amid a widening crackdown on activists,...
Human Rights
Pakistan Police Arrest 17 at Islamabad Aurat March on Women’s Day
Police arrested 17 organizers and participants of the annual Aurat March in Islamabad on...
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...
