Stories by Aisha Sarwari

The author is a public speaker, author, women’s rights activist and the co-founder of the NGO Women’s Advancement Hub. Her writings have appeared in Dawn, The Express Tribune, the BBC, The Guardian and NPR, and she has two published books on feminism. She lives in Islamabad and tweets @AishaFsarwari.

Kafeel has a fresh take on a woman who wants freedom without blaming her for wanting it

The show highlights how male privilege and toxicity can poison a woman, eventually snapping her in two.

Published 08 May, 2026 06:37pm

The limits of Bushra Bibi’s power

The national obsession with the former first lady tells us more about power than her.

Published 20 Apr, 2026 05:32pm

Objection overruled: Power, patriarchy, and the cost of dismissing women

When a Chief Justice tells a woman to shut her mouth, it is not just an insult to her — it is a verdict on every woman who has ever dared to stand tall in a country that insists she stay small.

Updated 20 Sep, 2025 02:14pm

When Zohran Mamdani crashed my family group chat

Mamdani is ready to pay the price for changing the narrative, and every family WhatsApp thread from Lyari to Kampala just got a little bolder, because he did.

Published 12 Aug, 2025 12:16pm

Dear GoP, beauty pageants are not a national security crisis

Angry men have more power than Erica Robin. They, not her, are the ones who should stand down.

Published 26 Sep, 2023 11:33am

The real reason Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha is banned in Pakistan

Watch Zindagi Tamasha for its beautiful and enchanting scroll, watch it to humanise the damned, watch it for its heart-breaking humanity, but most importantly, watch it because a Pakistani has made some damn good art.

Updated 28 Aug, 2023 04:19pm

F9 Park rape: If you’re a woman out for a walk, you’re ‘asking for it’

This is not just any criminal case where the victim happened to be a woman. The choice of the crime rested upon the victim's gender.

Updated 08 Feb, 2023 12:42pm

Who killed Sarah Shahnawaz?

I’m advocating here for something very ordinary — to take the worst possible fallen woman this society hates to the core, and refuse to believe she deserves harm.

Published 04 Oct, 2022 04:42pm

Nayyara Noor tugged at the heartstrings like no other singer will

We have to keep her alive in other ways beyond the analog world we belong to. The new children deserve her.

Published 22 Aug, 2022 12:57pm

In pursuit of K2: My journey towards the throne of the mountains

Everything they tell you about the journey being more important is untrue. It is all about crossing that finish line.

Updated 11 Aug, 2022 12:47pm

Women are angry. Men will witness

This was another case of a man thinking he needed to show a woman her place, and things got out of hand.

Published 27 Jul, 2021 06:02pm

Stayin’ alive: How Yasser Latif Hamdani fought Covid-19 and brain tumour to write Jinnah’s biography

Aisha Sarwari writes of her husband’s life, and her own, while the book came into being.

Published 25 Aug, 2020 12:57pm

My experience of supporting a sexual assault survivor and reporting the crime

It is worth repeating that when there is a sexual assault, it is important to report the crime.

Updated 08 Jul, 2020 11:02am

Telcos may have practical solutions for the poor to navigate the Covid-19 crisis. Here's how

Mental health helplines or food distribution schemes for a few communities may not cut it for a nation of 220 million.

Updated 18 Jun, 2020 10:13pm

FICTION: Lines in the sand

As letters fly back and forth, a simple friendship turns obsessive

Updated 25 Apr, 2017 11:55pm

Why women moral police women

The responsibility does not lie on our shoulders — or our dupattas.

Updated 02 Jul, 2016 02:18pm

The jirga that murdered Ambreen should be Pakistan's last

Until the state does not take action against these self-styled courts, our Ambreens will keep getting murdered.

Updated 06 May, 2016 05:23pm

Will the state ignore a raped, pregnant 13-year-old?

Until the child in Larkana gets justice, her ordeal is one that will haunt this country.

Updated 10 Mar, 2016 04:05pm

Avoiding love on Valentine's Day and other Pakistani stories

How about managing the perversion of love better, Mr. President?

Updated 15 Feb, 2016 11:23am

PIA standoff: Classic PML-N — Doing the right thing the wrong way

What a tragedy that the very body that has a contract to look out for the life of its citizens turns on its citizens.

Updated 03 Feb, 2016 02:50pm