ISLAMABAD – Militants in Pakistan’s volatile Waziristan region have escalated attacks on educational institutions just days before the end of 2025.

On Thursday, unidentified assailants detonated explosives at the Government Primary School in the Khushhali area of Ayaz Kot village in North Waziristan. According to reports, the attack obliterated much of the building and left more than 600 students without a classroom.

No group has claimed responsibility so far.

The attack follows a broader pattern of violence in the former tribal district, where armed groups have targeted schools amid a rise in terror attacks.

In December of last year, the United Nations special rapporteurs wrote a letter to the government of Pakistan, voicing their concerns over militant assaults on girls’ schools in the country.

In the letter, Farida Shaheed, special rapporteur on the right to education; Reem Alsalem, special rapporteur on violence against women and girls; and Laura Nyirinkindi, chair-rapporteur of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, called on the government of Pakistan to protect the fundamental right of women and girls to receive a safe and secure education.

“We are troubled by the persistent terrorist attacks targeting girls’ schools by groups opposing the education of women and girls. While all attacks on schools are reprehensible, those specifically aimed at girls’ institutions discourage women and girls from pursuing education, thereby reinforcing discrimination and societal inequalities,” the letter read.

Further, they requested information from the government regarding the investigations and actions being taken to safeguard girls’ schools in Waziristan.

Militants have bombed or burned girls’ schools in both North and South Waziristan, often citing opposition to female education.

Parents and rights advocates say the latest school bombing undermines efforts to expand schooling in a region where access to education, especially for girls, remains limited.

“This school was the only beacon of hope for our children,” one local elder was quoted as saying by Dawn, lamenting how the blast threatens young students’ futures.

Security challenges persist across Pakistan’s northwest, with Pakistani forces conducting counter-terror operations even as violence affects civilian life.

The rise in school attacks adds to mounting concerns about safety and the ability of the state to protect basic services in former conflict zones. Observers note that attacks on schools resonate widely in Pakistan, evoking memories of past high-profile assaults on educational institutions by extremists.

Fariha Ijaz

The writer is an Assistant Editor at Dissent Today, focusing on extremism and political violence.

The post 600 Students Affected As Blast Destroys Government School in Waziristan appeared first on Dissent Today.

“Take me instead of my brother, please. He can’t handle the torture. I will confess to whatever you want,” Zahid*, 32, desperately pleaded with the officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and members of a shady criminal extremist group at the FIA Cyber Crime Reporting Center in Rawalpindi. 

He has been incarcerated for over two years on blasphemy charges in Adiala Jail, Islamabad, despite the fact that he is legally entitled to be released on bail on statutory grounds. Prosecution witnesses often fail to show up at the trial, which has been prolonged for too long. 

Zahid is not alone. 

As of July 25, 2024, over 700 young Pakistanis are incarcerated across various jails in the country on allegations of blasphemy, according to the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR). The provincial breakdown of these “blasphemy” arrests is as follows: 581 cases from Punjab, 120 from Sindh, 64 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and two from Balochistan. 

The NCHR conducted an extensive investigation into these cases and highlighted a “troubling trend”: a sharp increase in the registration of blasphemy cases, the majority of which were initiated by the FIA’s cybercrime unit, often in collaboration with a private entity.

A report by the Punjab Police’s Special Branch explains the nature and operations of this “private entity,” which is operating in the manner of a business group for the purpose of hunting “blasphemers” and then extorting them. The report reveals the following:

1. There is a gang of suspicious individuals based in Islamabad and Rawalpindi who are trapping impressionable young people in blasphemy cases and subsequently referring these cases to the FIA.
2. This gang reportedly consists of a number of men and women, and is allegedly led by Sheraz Ahmed Farooqi, who poses as a member of the extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

3. A lawyer named Rao Abdur Raheem Advocate is also identified as a member of this gang.

4. Rao, Sheraz, and their associates have formed an organization called the Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan.

5. This gang acts as the complainant in approximately 90% of the blasphemy cases reported to and registered by the FIA.

6. They have created various WhatsApp and Facebook groups on social media to lure in and trap youth. Once involved, these individuals are falsely implicated in blasphemy cases in collaboration with certain elements within the FIA, with the intent of extorting them.The number of people entrapped by this group is astounding, and the question is, what possible motive over 700 unconnected youth from different parts of the country could have to commit blasphemy using electronic devices? Some of these young individuals are chemical engineers, while others are laborers, and many come from extremely religious or conservative backgrounds.  

The NCHR report includes testimony from a lawyer who stated that he has been “ostracized by the legal community solely for accepting such cases.” 

The figures quoted are astounding, and the question is, what possible motive over 700 unconnected youth from different parts of the country could have to commit blasphemy using electronic devices? Some of these young individuals are chemical engineers, while others are laborers, and many come from extremely religious or conservative backgrounds. 

We have also heard from our clients that nearly all of our clients were lured to Islamabad and other locations by a woman under the false pretense of “friendship” or job opportunities. After arriving, they were trapped by this Blasphemy Business Group whose members seized their phones and planted incriminating content on them. There is a pronounced lack of forensic examination of devices, which is essential for securing objective evidence in such cases.

While over 700 victims are alive and facing trial, some have not been able to withstand the torture. One such victim was Nauman*, who died after enduring severe abuse, evident from the bruises and marks covering his body when it was washed.

A common factor in all these cases is that the mobile devices of the “accused “ individuals are retained by the Blasphemy Business Group and FIA officials before being sent for any technical or forensic analysis.

Interestingly, one of the primary architects of this criminal enterprise, Advocate Raheem, has been identified by the Special Branch of Punjab. He carries content related to his activities on his phone and seeks to share it with various individuals in an effort to gain support and funding for his “noble mission” of identifying blasphemers. 

I have learned that some senior politicians and affluent influencers have donated large sums of money to him, unaware that the true objective of the group is extortion for personal benefit.

To give readers an idea of the extent of injustice and insanity, it is important to refer to one of the cases we are working on: the case of Farhan*, a young man who is blind and has been charged with creating and disseminating blasphemous content (despite clear and indisputable medical evidence of his blindness). 

The case against Farhan is perhaps one of the clearest examples of a false blasphemy accusation being concocted for the purpose of extortion. The group demanded a payment of Rs. 14 lakh from Farhan’s family in exchange for the FIA’s declaration of his innocence. Like many others who have silently paid their way out of this troubling situation, Farhan’s family would have done so as well if only they could afford it. However, because they cannot, Farhan’s application for acquittal has been pending before a Rawalpindi court for quite some time now, despite the fact that no incriminating material has been recovered from him and the evidence of his blindness.

The gang has actively created an environment of fear and intimidation, with the sole objective of securing convictions that it publicizes to obtain greater funds. 

This means the courts are unable to operate in a safe environment where judges can dispense justice without fear or favor. An Islamabad court dealing with these cases placed several cases on the E-court facility, preventing accused persons from even hearing the proceedings against them, in complete violation of their rights under Article 10A of Pakistan’s Constitution.

The prosecution story against the blasphemy-accused individuals is truly unbelievable, yet the charade continues across courts, particularly in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Moreover, we witnessed the court in Islamabad appeasing the group by writing 295C judgments in open court and seeking input from Advocate Raheem. The maxim “justice must not only be done but manifestly seen to be done” is not just dead but buried 10 feet underground.

How the Blasphemy Business Group fulfilled its rags-to-riches dream

Meanwhile, the reality is brazen: members of this group have significantly improved their standard of living since they began lodging these false cases in the FIA. According to the NCHR report, “Most of the accused individuals were from low socio-economic backgrounds with limited education,” and that “financial limitations hindered many accused individuals from accessing proper legal counsel.”

Several FIA officials have also profited from this exploitation, and the Blasphemy Business Group, in turn, has assisted many FIA officials (Grades 1-15) in securing regularization of their services, though the same officials were earlier contract employees.

Rao and the FIA officials are not alone—everyone in the group has realized their own rags-to-riches dreams in the name of religion, ensnaring innocent youth while enriching themselves. One member of the group, Raja Imran Khalil, is a lawyer involved in several cases in Rawalpindi and a complainant in a blasphemy case. 

From 2018 to 2020, he sold State Life Insurance policies. However, in January 2022, he was able to inaugurate a large, brand new office.

Despite the Special Branch Punjab’s findings that the sources of funding for this group are unknown, no one seems to question it.

Another member of the group is Ghazanfar Ali, who also appears in the Islamabad District Courts as an advocate. When Ghazanfar wishes to lodge an FIR with the FIA’s CCRC in Rawalpindi, he provides a Rawalpindi address for himself (as was done in FIR number. 85/2023). When he wishes to entrap people in Islamabad, he uses an Islamabad address as the complainant (as was done in FIR No. 138/2023). There is no scrutiny of anything submitted by the group to the FIA, which readily lodges FIRs and negotiates with families regarding the extortion amount.

The group continues to operate with impunity as the government turns a blind eye to the plight of hundreds of families across the country whose loved ones are languishing in jail for no reason other than their inability to pay the sums demanded of them. Officials in the FIA continue to partake in the racket because their fates and careers are now tied to the success of the group in court. Otherwise, this entire criminal enterprise would crumble, and the law would require that cases be lodged against members of the group and FIA officials involved in the scheme.

The most striking aspect is that several complainants in these FIRs admit, both in their applications to the FIA and in their testimonies before the courts, that they were members of the social media groups where blasphemous content was routinely shared. Yet, no one in the FIA—nor a single judge—dares to ask why these complainants remained in these blasphemous groups for so long, viewing incriminating content before they suddenly decided to report it.

Moreover, the FIA is quick to file complaint after complaint on their behalf. For example, FIR numbers 41/23, 212/23, 42/23, and 20/23 have all been lodged by the same complainant, Shehzad Khan, who is also a member of the Blasphemy Business Group, indicating that he is a resident of both Islamabad and Rawalpindi at the same time.

In the months that we have observed these cases, we have yet to see any legal arguments presented by members of the business group in a court of law, nor have we encountered any authentic evidence against the accused. Instead, we witness threats and intimidation masked as religious education from members of the gang, sending a clear message to the judges presiding over these cases: any decision to provide relief could have fatal consequences for the judge. This is not an empty threat, especially when we recall that Justice Arif Bhatti of the Lahore High Court was shot dead in his own chamber after acquitting 13-year-old Salamat Masih.

The real question remains: How can the government justify its silence on this glaring injustice and blatant abuse of the blasphemy law for the personal enrichment of a criminal group? How many more individuals will continue to be entrapped, extorted, tortured, and incarcerated for the sole purpose of enabling this gang to make a quick profit in the name of religion?

This madness and injustice has to stop, and members of this group need to be held accountable for their crimes. 

There has recently been a small glimmer of hope due to bail orders granted by the Sindh High Court in several cases. In an order dated December 11, 2024, concerning eight post-arrest bail applications, the Sindh High Court made the following observations:

1.  Several accused persons are not explicitly named in the FIRs.
2. There was no independent forensic examination conducted on the recovered material and devices.
3. The original source or creator of the content remains unidentified by the FIA, with reports suggesting that the source is “situated abroad in different countries.”

4. The reports submitted under Section 173 of the CRPC do not clearly indicate whether the data extracted from the mobile phones allegedly recovered from the applicants was edited by them or merely forwarded after being received from an unknown user, nor do they determine whether the purported blasphemous graphics are fake or genuine.

The Sindh High Court has raised important questions, but this has not come without consequences. As is typical of the business group, when outcomes do not favor them—specifically when courts uphold procedural and substantive safeguards mandated by law—they initiate a hateful and inflammatory campaign against lawyers and judges. This campaign includes issuing various press releases in which they label both judges and lawyers as blasphemers.

This is in line with their standard operating procedure throughout, where press releases have been issued after several hearings, categorizing the accused as a “blasphemer” without use of the word “alleged” and counsels for the accused as “lawyers of blasphemers.” After the recent Sindh High Court order, a campaign was launched demanding resignation of the judges. 

This criminal enterprise is not unknown to those in the corridors of power. Information on this business group’s operations has been conveyed to the highest levels of government, but they have expressed their inability to take action. The Blasphemy Business Group continues its reign of terror while some of the most hard working, enterprising and marginalized youth of this country suffer behind bars for something they never did. 

The tragedy is perhaps best encapsulated in a poem my paternal grandmother wrote during military dictator Zia ul Haq’s era, titled Aadhi gawahi (half testimony):

 تم حکمتِ دین کے پردے میں 

جائز کو ناجائز کرتے رہے 

کافر کو تو مسلم کر نا سکے 

مسلم کو کافر کرتے رہے

The Blasphemy Business Group is a direct byproduct of the state’s approach, which consistently permits the abuse of criminal law and religion to settle personal grievances. When individuals can file false blasphemy cases to resolve land disputes, it is no surprise that the Blasphemy Business Group believes it can exploit this system by submitting hundreds of fraudulent FIRs to the FIA for financial gain.

Today, hundreds of Pakistan’s hardworking youth are praying earnestly for someone to recognize this injustice and take action to stop it. Be their voice. Listen to their stories. Witness their families’ tears, and do not turn away simply because having this conversation is dangerous. 

These families deserve justice and an end to their suffering.

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and human rights activist.

The post The Untold Plight of Over 700 Jailed Pakistanis Trapped in Blasphemy Cases appeared first on Dissent Today.

Children and the elderly who suffered from seasonal viral infections died in recent weeks due to the severe shortage of life-saving drugs. There is a lack of gas and oxygen in the children’s ward at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), which is the city’s only government hospital. Nearly all local pharmacies in the Kurram district have run out of medicines.

At least 29 children have died since the blockade began in October, according to doctors. But the actual number of child fatalities due to the siege may be higher. Pediatrician Dr. Zulfiqar Ali told Dissent Today that the lack of access to petroleum in the area has prevented many patients from reaching hospitals in the outskirts of Parachinar. As a result, they are unable to register the number of child fatalities caused by various seasonal viral diseases.

The Thal-Parachinar Highway is the only road connecting Parachinar to the rest of the country, and it has been closed due to the ongoing sectarian clashes in the Kurram district, which began in October. The violence that resulted from the clashes claimed more than 120 lives.

Many children are admitted in the nursery ward at the District Headquarters Hospital in Parachinar, which is experiencing a shortage of gas and oxygen. With temperatures dropping to -4°C, the lives of many children under treatment at the hospital are at risk. Moreover, the shortage of milk is causing severe nutritional problems for children.

Child physicians at the DHQ hospital have requested the immediate provision of LPG gas for heating, as well as oxygen cylinders for emergencies and necessary medicines for children.

The hospital’s wards are currently at full capacity, and the administration is refusing admission to new patients.

Another pediatric specialist at DHQ Parachinar, Dr. Iqrar Hussain, said that the absence of gas for heating the hospital wards is forcing parents to take their sick children home. “This is causing the spread of viral infections among families,” he told Dissent Today.

Wajid Khan, the father of two-month-old twin babies from Lower Kurram, has been unable to find powdered milk for his children, as all the pharmacies and stores are out of stock. With tears in his eyes, he expressed his anguish over the lack of available nutrition. He noted that hundreds of other fathers are also searching the markets for nutrition for their children but have been unsuccessful.

A Parachinar-based social activist, Shahid Kazmi, told Dissent Today that the medicines provided by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister via helicopter are merely a media stunt. “In reality, the supplies delivered to the DHQ Hospital are insufficient to meet the needs of the approximately 380,000 people under siege in Upper Kurram.”

Javid Hussain

The writer is a journalist from Parachinar.

The post Parachinar Siege: 29 Children Dead As City’s Only Govt Hospital Faces Shortage Of Medical Supplies appeared first on Dissent Today.

They were callously made to sit on the floor of the police station’s courtyard all night, despite the city’s cold weather. The arrests were initially undisclosed, but the police later referenced an old FIR from last year related to the May 9 riots and included the vendors’ names in it.

At the anti-terrorism court, where they were later presented with their faces covered, police officers were seen aggressively encircling Pashtun vendors and separating them from their families after checking their ID cards. When Mazari tried to intervene and stop this racial profiling, an officer shoved her as well.

More than 2,000 Pashtun students, laborers, and street vendors—including legal Afghan refugees—have been arrested and are being held in various police stations in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, according to a list compiled by human rights lawyers, a copy of which is available with Dissent Today. The arrests were made in the wake of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s long march to the capital last month, seeking the release of incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, which ended following the use of force by law enforcement agencies.

Among the arrested street vendors is a 14-year-old boy who sold clothes to support his family.

Mazari told Dissent Today that police officials have been racially profiling and detaining Pashtun journalists as well, after checking their ID cards. “Several journalists and others have told me they were stopped at check posts, and their phones and ID cards were checked,” she said, adding that those whose permanent addresses were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were arbitrarily arrested.

Following the racial profiling that Mazari and her fellow lawyers witnessed at the anti-terrorism court, they sat in protest with the Pashtun vendors outside the court. “We could see van after van filled with people arrested from different parts of the city arriving at the anti-terrorism court,” she said.

Two of the street vendors whom Mazari is representing were discharged in the May 9 case, but others are still facing charges. Mazari and some other lawyers were initially unable to reach most of the arrested individuals, which means they remained in custody for days without access to defense counsel.

Mazari says this racial profiling is still ongoing and lawyers are receiving reports of similar arrests almost daily.

For former senator and National Democratic Movement leader Afrasiab Khattak, this racial profiling of Pashtuns is reminiscent of the time when they were displaced from tribal areas during the military action against the Taliban in 2009-2010. “At that time, too, the displaced Pashtuns were labeled as troublemakers who would bring terrorism to Punjab and Sindh,” he told Dissent Today.

The ill-treatment of Pashtun residents in Islamabad comes against the backdrop of widespread anti-Pashtun racist sentiments expressed on mainstream and social media during the PTI protest.

A large number of long march participants marched to the capital from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alongside the province’s Chief Minister, Ali Amin Gandapur. The PTI’s use of the provincial government’s resources to facilitate its long march has been criticized, but some federal ministers went too far in their criticism by blaming the Pashtun community for the party’s actions. Federal ministers Ata Tarrar and Mohsin Naqvi implied that most participants in the protest were Afghan and, by extension, terrorists.

Khattak says the government has been violently rounding up Afghan refugees and falsely accusing them of participating in the PTI protest. “I know a dozen Afghan refugees who were detained and tortured at the Counter Terrorism Department and forced to confess that they were part of the long march,” he said, adding that federal ministers demonized Afghans as if they were coming from Afghanistan to wage a war on Islamabad.

Meanwhile, PTI leaders had been invoking Pashtun “ghairat” (honor) in the lead-up to the march to urge the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to support the party’s call for protest and march to Islamabad.

Khattak says that the act of invoking Pashtun “honor” for political objectives is a colonial concept introduced by the British. “This stereotyping of Pashtuns as having a keen sense of honor and valor was part of the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), which aimed to confine Pashtuns to outdated tribal values,” he said. “The Pakistani ruling elite adopted this stereotype to continue using Pashtuns as cannon fodder.”

In response to a question, Khattak stated that the PTI is not doing enough to assist those who were arbitrarily arrested following the party’s protest in Islamabad. “The PTI claims that more than 200 people are missing, and it has been weeks since this crackdown. What is stopping them from going to the prisons and ascertaining the identities of the arrestees,” he asked.

Mazari agrees that the PTI leadership did not take an effective position on the racial profiling of Pashtuns. “They represent the Pashtun people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and they have a greater responsibility to speak out against the mistreatment of Pashtuns,” she said.

As ministers in the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including its chief minister, geared up for their long march to Islamabad in late November, the restive district of Kurram saw hundreds killed in sectarian clashes. The death toll from the violence in the district, which continued for weeks, rose to 130 before a ceasefire was recently achieved. The provincial government has been accused of ignoring the crisis and directing its resources toward the PTI march.

“The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has done nothing but squander resources of Pashtuns and their manpower for his party’s battle for the throne of Islamabad,” Khattak says. 

But despite this bleak situation, the former lawmaker sees a ray of hope in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Referring to the anti-Taliban protests being staged in the province, Khattak said Pashtun citizens have become politically conscious in recent years and are now refusing to be exploited by the Pakistani state and political elites.

“The Pashtun masses have understood that terrorism was brought to their land by the Pakistani state,” he added.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Faisal Karim Kundi hosted an All Parties Conference (APC) last week to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the province, attended by every political party except the PTI, which boycotted the event. Khattak, who attended the conference, says everyone present condemned the racial profiling of Pashtuns and the demonization of Afghan refugees.

“Pashtun politicians had to take a clear stance [against terrorism in the province] at the APC because they were feeling the public’s pressure to do so,” he said. “The Pashtun masses have decided they would no longer be used as cannon fodder. It is time for politicians and the state to catch up with this public sentiment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”

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.

The post Inside the Ongoing Racial Profiling in Islamabad appeared first on Dissent Today.

Mikhail Savostin
In exile since: 2021
Targeted for: Organizing and attending protests against Putin

In 2019, when Mikhail Savostin, an anti-Putin activist, was released after spending more than a year in a Russian prison in the southwestern city of Stavropol on dubious charges of marijuana possession, he realized that he was no longer strong enough to fight the regime. Having faced multiple arrests, torture and experienced a hunger strike in jail, his health had deteriorated. Finally, in August of 2021, Savostin, now 47, left Russia for Cyprus, hoping to win political asylum and start a new life.

The sense of safety he felt after arriving in Cyprus was short-lived, as he began receiving threats less than a year later for his online criticism of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. One morning, as he left his home, he was shocked to see what he described as a “warning” from Russian authorities. A poster had appeared in the city of Limassol, featuring black-and-white photos of prominent Russian dissidents based in Cyprus who had been critical of the Ukraine war, including Savostin. The poster included mourning ribbons and funeral lamps, implying that the individuals depicted were deceased. According to local media, some of these individuals were questioned by the Cyprus police prior to the emergence of the mysterious poster. While Savostin does not know who was behind this act, he believes it was a death threat issued by the Russian authorities as a result of his anti-Putin posts on social media, where he commands a significant following.

After the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian government intensified its crackdown on dissent. The authorities began actively targeting those who criticized the war. Within two weeks of the start of the war, at least 150 journalists were said to have fled Russia. In March of 2022, President Putin enacted a series of new laws criminalizing criticism of the invasion or the Russian army, making dissent even more dangerous.

Savostin was still awaiting a decision on his asylum application in Cyprus when he saw his photo on the poster, and news reports about critics of the war being persecuted added to his fears. In April of 2023, his asylum application was denied by Cyprus, prompting him to flee to the United States through the Mexico border, where he succeeded in getting asylum a month later.

According to Savostin, the authorities in Cyprus facilitate the Putin regime’s crackdown on dissidents by refusing to protect individuals seeking refuge in the country. He believes this is why he was denied asylum despite having a strong case.

Savostin worked as an activist in Russia for more than 20 years, during which time he also ran for government offices. He was once a candidate for deputy in the regional Duma (the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia).

Due to his activism, Savostin was jailed twice. The first time was in 1999, when he organized rallies against the alleged exploitation of low-wage workers, and he served a year in prison. Later, in 2018, he was jailed for attending a protest in Stavropol against Putin’s reelection. 

In 2019, the jail doctors misdiagnosed him with lung cancer, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the authorities released him and suspended his three-year sentence, believing he was going to die. “It was a mild illness, but they thought I was dying,” he said. “They didn’t want to be blamed for my death.”

After his release, he no longer had the energy to continue being chased by the police. He resumed some of his less risky activism work but decided to maintain a low profile—a far cry from his pre-arrest life. “I did not want to go to jail again. I have faced the worst conditions,” he told Dissent Today over a Zoom call from his place of residence in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “From torture to isolation, I was targeted as if I were one of the country’s most dangerous enemies.”

Savostin now lives in Minneapolis, where a Russian opposition group helped him find temporary housing. He had been active in political and activist circles back home, but is currently unemployed as he waits for his work authorization. “Not having a job makes it even harder to cope with the loneliness you experience after being detached from your country and your people,” he says.

Savostin has an 18-year-old son who is still in Russia and will soon have to enlist in the military for mandatory service. “I wanted to bring him to the U.S. before he turned 18 so that he does not have to participate in the Russian military’s war crimes,” he says.

But Savostin has received little support from human rights organizations in the U.S. in his efforts to bring his son to the country. He is relying on activist groups in Russia that are trying to move to America to bring his son along with them.

He was active on social media until recently; however, Savostin has now toned down his online activism and no longer writes or shares anything critical of Putin, fearing that his son might be targeted as a result.

“This self-censorship is part of my new identity,” he says. “There was a time when I was determined to keep speaking out against Putin’s crimes regardless of the consequences. But now, I don’t have it in me to fight this battle. I don’t want my son to suffer because of me.”

Savostin’s now ex-wife wanted him to return to Russia from Cyprus and assure the authorities that he had given up his activism, in order to guarantee the family’s safety. “But returning to Russia would have meant presenting myself for yet another jail term,” he said. Due to their disagreement on this matter, Savostin’s wife sought a divorce, and the couple parted ways.

As he waits for his work authorization, which has been delayed for over two weeks now, Savostin wonders if he will ever be able to truly adjust to life in the U.S. He does not speak English, which makes it harder to navigate the American immigration system and life in general. 

“The way they are delaying the process of issuing the work permit makes me question why they allow us to enter the U.S. in the first place if they do not have the resources to help us adjust,” he says.

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.

The post ‘Self-Censorship Shapes My New Identity’: Exiled Russian Activist Reflects on Leaving Activism Behind appeared first on Dissent Today.

Ahmad and three other delegates who took part in this action had named their small group “Delegates Against Genocide” for the purpose of initiating such disruptions at the convention. According to Ahmad, the area behind her, where a group of men was seen leaning over to attack her and the banner, was designated for the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA). The Union’s General President, Brent Booker, whom Ahmad claims was among the five men who attacked her, had addressed the convention earlier that day. “Three of them were hitting me in the head while two others ripped the banner away from my hands,” she told Dissent Today.

Ahmad had managed to get the sign past security by sneaking it under her clothing, but it quickly caught the attention of the delegates when it was unfurled. Other members of the Florida delegation also tried to stop the action, but the group was determined to display the banner. “We had instructed each other not to give up the banner at any cost,” she said. But when Ahmad fell forward after being hit by the men sitting behind her, the disruption had to come to an end.

Ahmad has made a formal complaint to the DNC regarding the incident, naming the attackers and urging the chair to take action. However, the DNC has yet to release any statement concerning the matter. Ahmad told Dissent Today that Roger Lau, the Deputy Executive Director of the DNC, reached out to her about the assault but indicated that the situation would be managed by law enforcement rather than the DNC.

Allegations of Islamophobia

Videos from the convention appear to show Booker and his colleagues forcibly removing the “Stop Arming Israel” banner from the hands of Ahmad and other members of the pro-Palestine group. Although other delegates involved in this protest were equally engaged, Ahmad, who is Muslim, is the only one who was assaulted, leading her to characterize the incident as an Islamophobic attack.

Liano Sharon, a Jewish delegate from Michigan who held the banner alongside Ahmad, agreed that the fact that she wears a hijab and is visibly Muslim may have been the reason why the attackers targeted her in particular. “What the LIUNA members did was a clear violation of the union’s code of conduct and should be grounds for action against them,” he told Dissent Today, emphasizing that the Democratic Party needs to develop strict codes of conduct to address incidents like this.

LiUNA and the Executive Director of the Florida Democratic Party did not immediately respond to Dissent Today‘s request for comment.

Meanwhile, the Uncommitted Movement, which staged a sit-in outside the venue on the third night of the convention to protest the DNC’s rejection of their request for a Palestinian-American to speak on stage, chose not to participate in this action during Biden’s speech, as they did not support disrupting the convention. Ahmad told Dissent Today that “Delegates Against Genocide” and the Uncommitted Movement employed different strategies to draw attention to Gaza and did not coordinate their efforts.

Discussing their plan to disrupt the President’s speech, Ahmad revealed that many delegates who had intended to protest ultimately decided against it, fearing the revocation of their credentials. However, Ahmad and her informal group—whom she likens to a “secret society” because many members were working behind the scenes—chose to proceed with the protest. “We didn’t care about the credentials,” Ahmad stated, adding that their intention was to “set the tone” for the rest of the convention and encourage others to speak out against the violence in Gaza.

As she had anticipated, Ahmad was denied her credentials the next day by the Florida Democratic Party without explanation. After much ado, she managed to obtain a guest pass on the third day of the convention. “I had to go back and forth, trying to get my credentials back while my head throbbed from all the hitting,” she says. Ahmad suspects that the party wanted to keep her away from the convention after the incident so she would not be able to identify the attackers. However, since the group had informed the press about their plans to disrupt Biden’s speech, the attackers were caught on camera, and she did not have to worry about identifying them.

In July, following a shooting incident at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, President Biden warned of the dangers of political violence in the U.S. In a prime-time address from the Oval Office, Biden stated that political violence must not be normalized, declaring, “There is no place in America for this kind of violence — for any violence. Ever. Period.”

Ahmad finds it ironic that she was struck in the head with “We love Joe” signs during the DNC convention, given Biden’s warnings about the threat political violence poses to the nation. “It’s truly astounding that during a time when President Biden is addressing political violence and the events of January 6, they chose to hit me with a ‘We love Joe’ sign simply because I was holding a sign that said ‘Stop Arming Israel.'”

Despite facing violence, Ahmad says she will continue protesting the Biden administration’s role in enabling Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza. “We are here, and we will not stop speaking out,” she asserted.

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.

The post Pro-Palestine DNC Delegate Assaulted For Disrupting Biden’s Speech Vows To Keep Speaking Out appeared first on Dissent Today.

Hasan Ali is a freelance journalist who contributes to international media organisations like, The Christian Science Monitor, and Vanity Fair. He mainly reports on issues related to marginalised communities.

Hasan Ali told Dissent Today that he was beaten up and picked up from outside the General Headquarters, Rawalpindi while he was reporting on protest against the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan that erupted at the site.

He also claimed that he was held at a police station without any charges for four hours.

“I find this a scandalous violation of the rule of law and a troubling sign of the callousness with which the state perceives our basic rights as citizens of the republic,” he added.

Violent protests erupted across the country following the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan from Islamabad High Court yesterday where he had appeared to get bail in multiple cases registered against him.

He was arrested in a corruption case by rangers.

Protesters across the country entered various army areas and resorted to damaging public property, while clashes between PTI supporters and police were also reported.

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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 lecturer at the English Literature department of Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan, has been in solitary confinement since 2013 after he was arrested on allegations of blasphemy. In 2019, a trial court in Multan convicted him of blasphemy, sentencing him to death, in a verdict that was termed unfair by human rights groups.

Hafeez’s first counsel, Rashid Rehman, was gunned down in Multan in 2014 amid death threats and a hateful campaign against him by lawyers associated with Barelvi extremist groups.

Differences between Hafeez’s lawyers

During the first hearing of the appeal against the death sentence on April 5, Malook asked the judges to adjourn it because he was “not prepared” and wanted to first meet his client in prison. However, Hafeez’s lead counsel, Asad Jamal, who has been representing him since 2014 after Rahman’s murder, insisted that the hearing should continue as he was prepared to argue.

When one of the judges asked why the case was shifted to Lahore from Multan, Jamal responded that he had petitioned for the case’s transfer to Lahore due to its peculiar history. Before the judge could say anything, Malook interjected, bringing up the murder of the previous counsel, Rahman.

According to Jamal, Malook’s mention of Rahman’s murder had had an “adverse impact” on the judges. “Judges are likely not to hear such a case in which there is so much at stake – including their lives. Mention a murder in a blasphemy appeal and the result is most likely postponement and no relief,” he told Dissent Today, adding that he wanted some progress during the first hearing because the appeal had reached the high court after more than three years.

Jamal briefly presented his arguments before he was asked by Justice Farooq Haider about a specific document from the case file. “It took me 10-15 seconds to locate the document from the case files, because of which the judge told me even I was not prepared, and postponed the hearing.”

The tone set by Malook, at the start of the hearing, Jamal believes, left a negative impression on the judges.

Surprisingly, both lawyers have not discussed the case with each other so far, and are clearly not on the same page. Jamal claims he reached out to Malook before the hearing, asking what their strategy would be, but the latter did not respond.

Saif ul Malook did not respond to Dissent Today’s request for comment.

Extremist groups back in action

Meanwhile, the lawyers who were involved in the campaign against Rashid Rehman prior to his murder have once again become active in the Junaid Hafeez case.

Advocate Zulfiqar Sidhu, who led the campaign against Rashid Rehman ahead of his murder, is an influential lawyer and was made assistant advocate general during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in 2018. He recently submitted his power of attorney on behalf of a witness against Junaid Hafeez who was an associate professor in Agronomy at the university. Advocate Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, who is the president of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat Lawyers Forum (a group that voluntarily prosecutes blasphemy-accused and assists anyone filing a blasphemy case), also recently joined hands with Sidhu and will be contesting Junaid Hafeez’s appeal against the death sentence.

Jamal terms Malook’s act of building “unnecessary hype” around the case as the reason for their renewed interest.

Saif ul Malook’s entry into the scene

On March 12 last year, Malook announced on Twitter that he met Junaid Hafeez and would be representing him in his appeal against the death sentence. But Junaid Hafeez had not
signed the power of attorney for Malook then, as it was signed on March 26, 2022.

Met Junaid Hafeez in central prison Multan today a death convict on blasphemy allegations. He is in good health and spirits. He appointed me his lawyer for his appeal in Lahore High Court.

— Saif-ul-malook (@Saifulm32731039) March 12, 2022

According to sources, Junaid Hafeez had initially declined Malook’s offer to represent him during their first meeting in Multan jail, but Malook made the announcement on Twitter anyway. It was 14 days after Malook’s tweet that Hafeez signed his power of attorney (a copy of which is available with Dissent Today), reportedly when Hafeez’s father convinced him to do so.

Sources further reveal that Malook had first tried to convince Hafeez to give him the power of attorney in January of 2020, but he had declined then too. Malook then held meetings with Hafeez’s father in Multan, who eventually convinced Hafeez to let Malook represent him.

‘Hearing may be further delayed’

Although the hearing has now been postponed till May 29, Jamal anticipates further delay because the judges were not clear. “Had the case been at least partially heard on April 5 instead of being postponed, it would have been fixed the week after,” he says.

Aside from the postponement of the hearing, Jamal also disagrees with Malook’s use of social media to release information about the case, given its precarious history and the involvement of extremist groups. Malook had tweeted about the April 5 hearing a day prior.

“Given the sensitivity around blasphemy laws, lawyers releasing such information in advance of the hearings is counterproductive,” Jamal says.

Loopholes in trial

Hafeez’s trial leading to his conviction and death sentence was marred by several loopholes, none of which have been duly addressed. During the trial between 2013 and 2019, seven judges hearing the case were transferred or distanced themselves from the case, raising questions on the fairness of the trial.

Hafeez’s first counsel, Rashid Rehman, was gunned down in Multan in 2014 amid a hateful campaign including direct death threats against him by lawyers associated with Barelvi extremist groups. His murder alone was enough to hamper a fair trial, as the extremist groups and lawyers allegedly behind the incident wield significant influence in Multan, where the case was being heard.

The extremist campaign initiated against Rehman continued even after his murder. On May 8, 2014, a day after his murder, unsigned pamphlets were distributed in Multan, saying Rehman met his ‘rightful end’ for trying to save someone who ‘disrespected’ Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). “We warn all lawyers to be afraid of God and think twice before engaging in such acts,” the pamphlet had said.

This series of events, among others, explains why Junaid Hafeez was convicted and given the death sentence despite the prosecution not having a strong case against him. Earlier during the trial, there were times when it appeared that the case against Hafeez would be thrown out due to serious discrepancies in the prosecution’s version.

In December 2014, seven months after Rehman’s murder, Shahbaz Paracha, a judge who was hearing the case, had told defense counsel Jamal that he wanted to adjudicate the case without delay. “Hafeez specially sent a message asking me to attend the hearing on Dec. 13, 2014, but I was not prepared to cross-examine the witness then. I informed the judge that since I didn’t have the complete case file, I would not be able to cross examine the witness. He told me to read the court file instead,” Jamal says.

“The judge had told me to return to the court in two days, and when I sought more time to prepare the case, he said he could grant me time till the 17th. ‘Return to the court on the 17th. I want to decide the case,’ the judge had said, as he looked me in the eye.”

Jamal says he could see that the judge had realized that the case was baseless, and that he had to somehow clean the stigma of Rashid Rehman’s murder. It was in his court that Rehman had been threatened with dire consequences if he continued to represent Hafeez.
“I knew that judge Paracha was going to acquit Junaid Hafeez sooner than later,” Jamal says.

But two days ahead of the hearing on December 17, 2014 – when Hafeez’s acquittal was likely – the judge was transferred to Faisalabad and the case was delayed. According to the defence counsel, all judges who showed their inclination to acquit Hafeez were transferred. Seven judges were transferred between December 2014 and December 2019 when the verdict was delivered. The trial was delayed due to the transfers as well as non-appearance of witnesses.

What exactly is the case against Junaid Hafeez?

The initial complaint against Junaid Hafeez as recorded in the FIR had stated that he was the admin of a secret Facebook group called “So-called Liberals of Pakistan” and was guilty of blasphemy because he did not delete a blasphemous post shared in the group by an unidentified user “Mullah Munafiq”. But according to the prosecution’s evidence submitted in the form of printed Facebook posts, the secret FB group as well as the alleged account by Hafeez’s name had continued to be operated even after Hafeez’s arrest on March 13, 2013, indicating that he was neither in control nor operating them.

About 6 months after Hafeez was arrested, the prosecution brought on court record new witnesses who claimed to have seen Hafeez commit blasphemy while addressing a launch ceremony of a British-Pakistani author Qasra Shahraz’s two books about women’s status in society. The complaint also stated that said books contained blasphemous content, and were an attempt to “provoke women against Islam”. But during the cross examination when the prosecution’s witness, a student at BZU, was asked by defense counsel Asad Jamal about the contents of the book, it emerged that he could not properly read English. He then changed his statement, and said he was “informed” by some other students that the books were blasphemous.

‘Misogyny at the heart of conspiracy against Hafeez’

The blasphemy case against Hafeez, Asad Jamal says, was part of a conspiracy hatched by a group at Bahauddin Zakariya University and was originally meant to simultaneously target the head of the department, Shirin Zubair, but she survived the vicious attack due to her status and connections.

Professor Shirin Zubair, head of the university’s English language and literature department, was a candidate in the varsity’s syndicate elections in 2013. Had she won the elections, she would have had a better chance to later become the Vice Chancellor of the university where she had served for almost 30 years – something a group of male faculty members, who were opposed to her promotion because of her gender and her liberal worldview, did not want.

“Since Shirin Zubair reposed trust in Hafeez because of his academic excellence, the group that wanted to get rid of her thought she could be intimidated into stepping aside with such a campaign against him,” Asad Jamal told Dissent Today.

Following the blasphemy complaint against Hafeez, Shireen withdrew her candidature and eventually left the country. Those who hatched the conspiracy to keep a woman from reaching the post of Vice Chancellor were successful.

The defense counsel had in 2015 tried to get Shireen to appear as a witness for Junaid Hafeez, but she was not willing to come forward due to security concerns.

‘Students who accused Hafeez of blasphemy were never in his classes’

The original complainants in the case were two BZU students of English department Rana Akbar and Muhammad Rafique, who had graduated and left the university in 2012. But the complaint was registered in the name of a police sub-inspector. Later on, Professor Hakoomat Ali, a faculty member of the Agronomy department along with a group of four students of Islamic Studies and Physics departments, also became witnesses.

Interestingly, none of the five students who appeared as witnesses against Junaid Hafeez had ever been his students. Four of them studied at different departments, while one of them was from the English department, but had never taken a class with Hafeez or been his class fellow. In his cross-examination, he had told the court that he had never seen Hafeez utter anything blasphemous. But he went on to claim that Hafeez was running a “blasphemous campaign of liberal views” in his classes and on social media. On further questioning, he had informed the court that he was neither connected with Hafeez as a friend on Facebook nor was he a member of the secret group, but still “knew” that Hafeez was operating it.

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.

The post Extremist Groups Back In Action As Blasphemy-Convict Junaid Hafeez’s Appeal Against Death Sentence Reaches LHC appeared first on Dissent Today.

He has posted an album of high-digital photographs depicting the lifestyle of people in Mohenjo-Daro, receiving widespread commendation from people across the country.

Rahamutlah Mirbahar shared with Dissent Today that he had to do thorough research to create accurate images of the ancient city, while adding that he managed to complete the project in three months.

Regarding his educational background, the IT expert said he was born in Sonda, Thatta and received his basic education from the Government Degree College, Thatta.

He has a diploma in Information Technology and Web-designing.

“I joined a web designing company and later worked as a wildlife photographer, which improved my skills,” he added while also crediting his mentor Manthar Mahi Khan Jakhro for encouraging him to create the images.

“As soon as I posted these photographs, people from all backgrounds, including members of the civil society and journalists, contacted me and lauded my efforts,” he said.

Giving a message to the young people in Pakistan, he urged the youth to explore Artificial Intelligence and also requested the Sindh government to add it to the textbook curriculum of secondary classes.

Rahamutlah Mirbahar is currently affiliated with the district health department under a 1-year contract.

Kamran Khamiso Khowaja

The post Young IT Expert From Thatta Reimagines Mohenjo-Daro Using Artificial Intelligence appeared first on Dissent Today.

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