Improbable as it may seem, but 67 Kashmiri university students were briefly charged with sedition for cheering for Pakistan, and celebrating its win over India, during an Asia Cup cricket match in early March. Mahima Kaul reports
CATEGORY: Pakistan
Index Freedom of Expression Awards: Advocacy nominee Shahzad Ahmad
Shahzad Ahmad is one of the leading voices in the fight against online censorship in Pakistan. The country faces a deteriorating state of cyber freedom, as the government uses draconian censorship laws and increasing surveillance to police the internet.
Pakistan’s media targets women in pursuit of ratings
TARGET - Episode No.190 by aajnews Pakistan's media has become increasingly powerful in the decade and a half since then-president Pervez Musharraf...
Pakistan: Between a “cultural coup” and giving “peace another chance”
Hoping to use culture to battle Pakistan’s slide into “Talibanisation”, the son of Benazir Bhutto kicked off a two-week-long arts festival on 1 February. Zofeen Ebrahim reports
Pakistan’s politics thwart launch of Malala book
Peshwar University found itself at the centre of a controversy surrounding the launch of I Am Malala when police refused to provide security for the event. Zofeen Ebrahim reports
Pakistan’s religious kidnappings: Forced conversions and marriages
An increase in kidnappings of Hindu girls who are then coerced to embrace Islam and forced to marry has raised concerns in Pakistan, Zofeen Ebrahim writes
Pakistani journalists plea for protection
Three men working for a TV station were last week killed by the Taliban in Karachi. Now Pakistani journalists are calling on the government to appoint special public prosecutors to investigate the murders of media workers. Zofeen Ebrahim reports
Pakistani media finds itself in Taliban’s crosshairs
Condemning the cold blooded assassination of three media workers belonging to a private television channel, the Pakistani media has united against the culture of impunity that has gripped the country. Zofeen Ebrahim reports
Pakistan: Karachi murders highlight Taliban penetration
The Taliban allegedly killing six young people for visiting a Sufi shrine has reinforced the long-standing fear among Karachi citizens that the group has not only consolidated itself, but is also imposing their belief system, writes Zofeen Ebrahim
2013: A deadly year for Pakistan’s internet freedom
While 2013 delivered a milestone transfer of government in Pakistan, the year brought despair and hopelessness to the country’s growing ranks of netizens, Nighat Dad writes