Sabeen Mahmud | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)
Pakistan Press Foundation

Pakistan’s transformation into a police state

Pakistan Press Foundation

Pakistan began 2015 in a state of grief, shock and anger over the horrific Army Public School attack by the Taliban in Peshawar. This came on top of a series of violent attacks that killed hundreds. But the fatal shooting of 138 children placed the Pakistani government under tremendous pressure to hold the perpetrators to […]


Reclaiming Karachi’s lost arts and identity

Pakistan Press Foundation

Karachi: Following its reopening three months ago, The Second Floor (T2F) hosted the re-launch of its famous ‘Faraar Gallery’ which was coined by the late social activist, Sabeen Mahmud. Held on a breezy Sunday evening, the gallery and pop up cafe saw quite a number of people coming in as they browsed through various art […]


Killing shows govt failure to implement witness protection law

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: The killing of a key witness to the murder of Sabeen Mahmud late last week has again highlighted the failure of the provincial government to implement the law on witness protection that has been demanded by groups and individuals working for human rights and legal issues. The Sindh government’s ambitious plan to make ‘hefty […]


Unleashing innovation to help Pakistan progress in online market

Pakistan Press Foundation

Karachi: There is a great potential in the online market which is allowing young entrepreneurs to kick off their own businesses and earn enormous money through a unique and effective idea. “It’s all about an idea. If you can come up with an innovative thought and have the ability to execute it online, you can […]


Sabeen remembered

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: At ‘Unsilence Pakistan: A Tribute to Sabeen Mahmud’, the murdered activist was remembered first under the fading light and then the starless night sky at Arts Council’s open-air auditorium. It was an event of tear-filled eyes, of choked throats, of reminiscent nods and of fond memories left behind. An event where Sabeen’s legacy was […]


Cross-border relations: ‘We are fighting the same battle for human rights’

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: Vibhuti Narian Rai, a novelist, and Vandana Misra, a poet and the general-secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, came to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s office to discuss the condition of human rights in both the countries. “It is relatively easier to work for human rights in India than it is […]


CCP to hold ‘Un-silence Pakistan: a tribute to Sabeen Mahmud’ today

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: The Concerned Citizens for Peace (CCP) is holding a public gathering today (Saturday) at The Arts Council, Karachi, from 6pm to 9pm to commemorate the late Sabeen Mahmud, founder of PeaceNiche and T2F (The Second Floor), and to pay tribute to the other fallen heroes – journalists, workers, and activists – who have been […]


Social media war

Pakistan Press Foundation

A COUPLE of months ago I wrote on these pages vis-à-vis the need to think critically about new information technologies and how they will shape life on the planet in the long-run. As Keynes famously said, in the long-run we are all dead. Besides, contemporary developments are already confirming that all is not well in […]


Dr Waheedur Rehman murder case: Investigators seek details of 10 KU students

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: A week has passed since the murder of Karachi University (KU) assistant professor Dr Syed Waheedur Rehman but the police have been unable to make any breakthrough. Investigators have, however, sought the details of 10 university students from the KU administration for some clues. Dr Rehman, an assistant professor at KU’s mass communications department, […]


Senate assails Sabeen’s murder, exhibition of controversial cartoons

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: The Senate unanimously passed on Wednesday two resolutions, one condemning the recent targeted killing of a human rights activist in Karachi and the other criticising the exhibition of controversial caricatures in the US. The resolution on the killing of civil society activist Sabeen Mehmud, who was shot dead in Karachi on April 24, was […]


In fond memory: Remembering Sabeen, the person who made everyone laugh

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: When people remember Sabeen Mahmud, the first memory they recall is how she made everyone laugh. “She had a sense of who people are and how they will react to the things she will say,” said Jehan Ara, the president of software house P@SHA. Jehan Ara admired that Sabeen could deal with all kinds […]


#Justice for Sabeen: Protesters demand inquiry report be made public

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: The protesters demanding justice for the attack on activist Sabeen Mahmud gathered outside Karachi Press Club on Thursday. The demand was the same: fix responsibility for Sabeen Mahmud’s murder. The demonstrators wanted the government and the armed forces to disclose the details of the inquiry report. “The acting president had given the Sindh government […]


Sabeen’s murder investigation inches forward as suspicion falls on religious extremists

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: Sabeen Mah­mud, rights activist and founder of social forum The Second Floor, might have been targeted by religious extremists, said a senior police official on Wednesday. “A strong possibility is that Sabeen was targeted by a banned militant outfit,” said DIG-South Dr Jamil Ahmed while addressing a press conference at his office. In reply […]


Investigators look for clues to Mahmud’s murder as free-speech fears grow

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: Investigators have found no match for casings of bullets that killed a prominent human rights activist, dashing hopes for quick answers to a murder that has raised fears for the safety of dissenting voices. Gunmen on a motorcycle attacked activist Sabeen Mahmud, the director of The Second Floor (T2F) on April 24 in the […]