Pakistan Unveiled
Pakistan is a country of contradictions - full of promise for growth, modernity and progress, yet shrouded by political, social and cultural issues that undermine its quest for identity and integrity. My bimonthly column "Pakistan Unveiled" presents stories that showcase the Pakistani struggle for freedom of expression, an end to censorship, and a more open and balanced society.
Bina Shah is a Karachi-based journalist and fiction writer and has taught writing at the university level. She is the author of four novels and two collections of short stories. She is a columnist for two major English-language newspapers in Pakistan, The Dawn and The Express Tribune, and she has contributed to international newspapers including The Independent, The Guardian, and The International Herald Tribune. She is an alumnus of the International Writers Workshop (IWP 2011).
  • Digital Censorship in Egypt and Pakistan
    by  / June 5, 2015

    “In Pakistan, as well as in Egypt and other countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the government faces the same kind of debate in a society that has grown ever more aware of its collective voice, and ever more eager to use it.”

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  • Charlie Hebdo and the PEN Award
    by  / May 12, 2015

    Protests against and controversy surrounding Charlie Hebdo’s reception of the PEN award for “freedom of expression courage”: an exploration of freedom expression that takes a toll on human dignity.

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  • On Killing the Messenger
    by  / March 11, 2015

    Some of us choose to write things that may only offend family members, because we believe our blood ties will save us from their retribution. Others choose to take the risk of provoking religious extremists because they believe the risk is worth it.

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  • Gender Apartheid: The Real No-Go Zones
    by  / February 16, 2015

    Instead of zones based on Muslims and non-Muslims, Muslim communities have no-go zones for women. These no-go zones have existed for much longer and been much more accepted than the fictitious no-go zones of Paris or Birmingham.

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  • Traveling While Pakistani
    by  / January 9, 2015

    Even if all traces of the poliovirus were to disappear from Pakistan tomorrow, we Pakistanis would still approach levels of near-insanity every time we have to travel abroad.

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Fearless, Ink.