October 21, 2025
Time:
6:00 PM
VC Faculty Lounge, Academic Block, LUMS
The Saida Waheed Gender Initiative (SWGI) is pleased to announce Post at Your Peril: Identity, Politics, and Backlash on Social Media, a thought-provoking conversation featuring Sabah Bano Malik, Shahzadi Rai and Shehzad Ghias.
In contemporary digital cultures, online visibility functions as both empowerment and vulnerability. Speaking publicly on social media is never a neutral act - it is mediated through intersecting structures of patriarchy, polarised politics, surveillance, and class that shape who is heard, who is dismissed, and who becomes a target of harassment.
Across Pakistan and beyond, digital platforms have emerged as contested political arenas where dissent, critique, and advocacy coexist with surveillance, trolling, and coordinated disinformation.
This panel brings together three outspoken commentators who have each faced backlash for their identity, work, content, or politics. Through their experiences, the conversation will explore how online backlash diverges across identities, how Pakistan’s online cultures shape these dynamics, and what it takes to keep speaking out in volatile online spaces. The discussion will push us to think critically about digital speech, structural bias, and the strategies of participation in an increasingly polarised political landscape.
About the Panelists:
Sabah Bano Malik is a comedian, multi medium journalist, and content creator. Working across print, digital, and radio media for over a decade — both behind and in front of the camera — she has found her voice in smart, sharp cultural critique, especially where culture, patriarchy, and misogyny intersect. Known for her humorous and passionate videos where no topic is off limits, Sabah uses her platform to amplify women’s rights and minority issues, and to challenge the cultural barriers that silence critical conversations. She also hosts Full Disclosure on CityFM89, a show she has helmed for the past seven years.
Shahzadi Rai is a Karachi-based political organiser whose activism on HIV prevention and broader citizenship rights in Pakistan spans over a decade. She began her advocacy by independently addressing violence against trans persons and later co-founded Sindh Moorat March (Pakistan’s Political Trans Pride). She continues to lead efforts to end violence and discrimination against trans people and currently serves as a member of Karachi’s Mayoral Cabinet representing the Pakistan People Party (PPP).
Shehzad Ghias Shaikh is a stand-up comedian, writer, and host of The Pakistan Experience podcast. A Fulbright scholar, he holds a Master’s degree from Brooklyn College and a Bachelor’s degree from LUMS. His recently released book, Pakistan Lost, explores the complex history of Pakistan through a deeply reflective lens.
This event is open to all. External participants are kindly requested to email their full name and CNIC numbers to gender@lums.edu.pk and bring their original ID card on the day of the event for entry.
We look forward to your participation!
