Category: Uncategorized

  • Karachi’s Unknown Dead

    Each year, approximately 3000 unidentified corpses are found on the streets of Karachi, an ever-expanding mega-city in southern Pakistan. Sometimes they are drug addicts or migrant workers who came to…

  • Recent writing

    In 2019, I broke my foot and wrote a book – which is one way of saying that the year has passed in a bit of a blur. Here are…

  • Student mental health

    Anxiety and stress amongst students in British universities is sky-rocketing. In a piece for the Guardian Long Read, I looked at why this might be. I interviewed students and staff…

  • Saving mothers

    Postpartum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide, responsible for around 100,000 deaths every year. While around 6 per cent of women giving birth all over the world…

  • Facebook blackmail

    Gender-based harassment can look extremely different in different parts of the world, posing a conundrum for global social media companies: what might look like a totally mundane image to a…

  • Pakistani politics

    I’ve been going back and forth to Pakistan a lot this year as I research for my forthcoming book, Karachi Vice, and work on other projects, including my first documentary film…

  • From Our Own Correspondent

    I’m a huge radio nerd and Kate Adie fan, so was really delighted to have a couple of pieces on the BBC’s flagship show From Our Own Correspondent this year.…

  • Curing violence

    In recent years, there has been a lot of discussion about the “public health approach” to tackling violence, with suggestions that such a model could be introduced in London to…

  • I’m writing a book!

    I am so delighted to announce that I’ve won the inaugural Portobello Prize for narrative non-fiction, which was set up to “showcase the most exciting new voices in narrative non-fiction, offering debut…

  • Investigating war crimes

    In the years after Britain withdrew from Iraq, allegations of misconduct by British troops were coming thick and fast. In 2010, the government established the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat).…

  • Recent writing on Pakistan

    I’ve written a few pieces about Pakistan in recent months. Rising from the ashes: a new era in Pakistani cinema (emerge85) I wrote this piece about Pakistani cinema’s “new wave”…

  • More from the Middle East

    The last few pieces drawn from the reporting I did  in the Middle East late last year are now out. For the Spring issue of the World Policy Journal, I…

  • Who were Islamic State?

    During my trip to Iraq in the autumn, I spent some time at the Kurdish-administered Khazir refugee camp, which mostly accommodates people who have fled Mosul. Among the many victims…

  • Reframing gender violence

    I was absolutely delighted to be selected as a media fellow for a programme run by Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Social Difference. The programme, titled  Religion and…

  • Recent writing

    After a spate of terrorist attacks in Europe, we are hearing a lot about early intervention work – particularly deradicalisation programmes. In the Autumn 2017 issue of the New Humanist,…

  • The Trojan Horse affair

    In 2014, a series of allegations surfaced about schools in Birmingham. The central claim was that a group of Muslim men had conspired to take over governing bodies in order…

  • Remembering Partition

    On the 14th and 15th August, Pakistan and India celebrated their respective Independence Days. This year, which marks 70 years since the Partition of India, the celebrations were accompanied by…

  • Activism and hope in the Syrian crisis

    During my recent trip to Lebanon, I spent time with various refugee-focused organisations, and had the privilege of meeting some inspiring Syrian grassroots activists. Here are the stories I wrote.…

  • Schools in Lebanon

    I recently travelled to Lebanon, one of the countries where the Syrian refugee crisis is felt most acutely. There are well over 1 million Syrians currently residing in Lebanon, a…

  • Attacks on free speech

    Five years ago, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison and 1000 lashes. His crime was starting a website that discussed liberal ideas. In…

  • Tumultuous Britain

    Ever since the Brexit referendum result last year, Britain has been in a prolonged period of political crisis and upheaval – which, with the shock election result, shows no signs…

  • In Gwadar

    During a long trip to Pakistan last year, I visited Gwadar, a remote coastal town in the far reaches of Balochistan. This province is huge, underdeveloped and home to a…

  • The Things I Would Tell You

    “The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write” is a fantastic anthology, published by Saqi and edited by Sabrina Mahfouz. It contains writing from a wide range of…

  • Karachi’s ambulance drivers

    Late last year, I travelled to Karachi to spend a week with Muhammad Safdar, an ambulance driver for the Edhi Foundation. This is a huge charitable empire which fills many of…

  • Leaving the EDL

    The English Defence League (EDL) is notorious: a far-right street movement known for its racism and its sometimes violent, messy protests. Born in Luton in 2009. the movement rapidly grew…

  • Britain, women and integration

    This December I wrote a couple of pieces for The Pool, looking at different aspects of integration in Britain. The first dealt with Louise Casey’s government-commissioned report into integration. My…

  • Bethnal Green

    In August, it was reported that Kadiza Sultana, one of three teenagers who had left their homes in Bethnal Green to go to Syria, had been killed in an airstrike.…

  • Pakistan’s madrasas

    During my latest trip to Pakistan in spring of this year, I traveled around the country and reported on different aspects of extremism. I recently wrote a long feature for…

  • UK fallout

    In the aftermath of the EU referendum on 23 June, I wrote a few reported features from different parts of the UK, talking to different communities. For Politico Europe, I went…

  • Brexit Britain

    It’s been a tumultuous period for British politics. Since my return from Pakistan, I’ve been covering events in Britain for Deutsche Welle. In May, I wrote about the election of…