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Articles for author: Maheen Mustafa

January 10, 2024

Maheen Mustafa

Media freedom sinking ahead of elections (Opinion)

Pakistan is currently suffering from political instability and uncertainty which has increased the political environment and polarization. Unfortunately, this has resulted in attacks on media protection and press freedom in the country. Political polarization and uncertainty affect media protection in Pakistan. State-level media bans continue unabated. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) is acting more as a media censor than a regulator. Ahead of general elections, where free flow of information and access to information are crucial, such actions by PEMRA undermine the role of the media. Pakistani media has directly felt the effects of political upheaval through physical

May 31, 2023

Maheen Mustafa

Human rights to be breached with military court trials (Opinion)

Pakistan is phasing through a challenging time, not for the first time. The military and civil leaders have decided to relaunch the military courts to try civilians including workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for the May 9 riots. And as usual, the parties in power are all for it because they consider May 9 as a “black day” in the history of Pakistan, while the opposition, mainly PTI, human rights organizations and Amnesty International have seriously opposed it calling it against the values of democracy and human rights. This is not the first time military courts are being launched in

December 19, 2022

Maheen Mustafa

Climate disasters, ill-governance aggravate education crisis, especially for young girls (Opinion)

The education crisis in Pakistan is one of the worst in the world. The country only spends 1.7% of its total GDP on it. An even more concerning aspect of this is that the 1.7% is down from the previous 1.9% of 2021-2023. And it shows how much the ruling parties care about it, but when in the opposition, this is one of the biggest issues for all of these parties. Along with the incompetence of the ruling class, the education of Pakistan has recently been hit repeatedly, first it was COVID-19 and more recently it is the historic floods.

December 16, 2022

Maheen Mustafa

Joyland uproar brings denial of trans rights into focus (Opinion)

We, in Pakistan, love controversies especially knowing nothing or very little about an issue and the rights of transgenders are one of them. The issue was highlighted once again after the release of the internationally-acclaimed movie, Joyland was announced. A movie revolving around transgender tends to get criticism from the people of Pakistan because, as I said, we love to criticize or ban anything remotely out of our belief system. Most of us haven’t watched the movie, but we are all in for its ban and the campaign against the movie, remained successful to a large extent. So, a little

March 6, 2022

Maheen Mustafa

Gang rape during PSL highlights the extent of gory sexual violence against women (Opinion)

Pakistan Super League (PSL) is the biggest cricket brand of the country and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) takes it very seriously. The league has played a huge role in bringing back cricket to Pakistan. The current year’s PSL had extra significance because it has been followed by the Australian cricket team’s tour to Pakistan after 24 years. Hence, PCB doesn’t want to go anything sideways and that is why there is very high level of security in Lahore nowadays. And amidst all this, the incident like an attempted rape is catastrophic. According to media reports, two private guards tried to

December 27, 2021

Maheen Mustafa

Pakistan’s anti-Christian bigotry remains unaddressed

Karachi’s famous food chain ‘Delizia’ made headlines when an employee of one of the most popular bakeries refused to write ‘Merry Christmas’ on a cake at the request of a customer. The incident took place at the bakery’s branch on Khayaban Jami in the Defense Housing Authority when a woman named Celestia Naseem Khan arrived at the bakery just before Christmas, the Christian community’s religious holiday, and wanted them to write ‘Merry Christmas’ on the cake. The bakery representatives apologized for not fulfilling her wish, saying they are not allowed to do so. Celesia Khan was left frustrated and angry

September 9, 2021

Maheen Mustafa

Lal Masjid remains contentious (Opinion)

In signs of growing support for the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan, flags of the insurgent group were raised on the rooftop of a women’s madrasa affiliated with infamous Lal Masjid in capital Islamabad. In the past, dozens of people had been killed in Pakistani military operations in this mosque in Islamabad over the alleged presence of terrorists. Some thought it was due to ties to the Afghan Taliban, while others thought the flag hoisting was a signal to government agencies.Jamia Hafsa spokesman Maulana Haroon said the flag hoisting at the madrassa did not signal any government or anyone. “Flags were

August 30, 2021

Maheen Mustafa

Religious pretences used to marginalise transgender community (opinion)

On August 8, Pakistan Police arrested a transgender Qaiser Zada, a resident of Swabi, under controversial blasphemy law for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran in Abbottabad. They were allegedly caught by locals near the Jinnah Bagh in Abbottabad city while burning a copy of the Quran and beaten by people and later handed over to the police. The police registered FIR against the accused under Section 295-B and later produced him before the judicial magistrate, who remanded him for three days. Transgender people, and transgender women,, in particular, face harassment, mistreatment and exclusion from society, from the public health care

August 24, 2021

Maheen Mustafa

Rape of teenage corpse in Thatta shows women aren’t safe even after death (Opinion)

On August 14, a group of men dug out the corpse of a teenage girl and raped it in Maulvi Ashraf Chandio village near coastal town Ghulamullah in the Thatta area of Sindh province. The shocking incident came to light after the family of the deceased visited the grave day after the girl, who died of natural causes, was buried. The family found that the grave was dug up and the body missing, adding the body with signs of rape, was later recovered from a nearby jungle. They informed the local police of the matter but they ignored the matter.

August 18, 2021

Maheen Mustafa

Discriminatory politics (Opinion)

In the election campaign for recently held Azad Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly, ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Gandapur passed ‘sexist and foul’ remarks against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz. Taking a jibe at the PML-N leader during a rally in AJK, Gandapur said Maryam Nawaz has spent Rs 80 million on surgery and he will unmask her real face before the public by removing the cosmetic surgery.“We will slap you in the face so much that your real face will be revealed to everyone,” the minister said. Following the

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