Zia Ur Rehman

Zia Ur Rehman ( Urdu, Pashto,: ضیاءالرحمن, born 1981) is a Pakistani journalist,^[1]^[2] researcher, and author, specialising in security issues, human rights, minorities, and politics.

Personal life

Rehman was born and raised in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province. He received his master's degree from University of Karachi in 2005. In 2018, he completed the prestigious British Chevening Scholarship South Asian Journalism fellowship.^[3] He speaks Urdu, English, Pashto, and Balochi languages.

Work

Rehman has currently been working as a senior reporter with the prominent English daily The News International in Karachi and regularly writes to the New York Times. He has also been published in The National. TRT World The Friday Times, Dawn and Herald among other publications. Rehman mainly covers security, political and human rights issues, migration, and labour rights, and monitors and specialises in Islamist and ethnic movements in the region. He has been widely quoted in international and national publications, such as Washington Post,^[4] Reuters,^[5] AFP,^[6] and Radio Free Europe Free Liberty.^[7]

Rehman has also offered training in conflict reporting to journalists ^[8] and also trained a number of Karachi youth from underprivileged and underreported areas of Karachi to teach them reporting and news-writing as well as photo and video journalism.^[9]

Publications

Rehman authored a book titled Karachi in Turmoil, in February 2013.,^[10] containing a detailed coverage of the ethnic violence in Karachi. Taliban phenomenon is also discussed in detail.^[11] He also contributed a chapter on Pashtuns in Karachi in the book 'Cityscapes of Violence in Karachi: Publics and Counterpublics’^[12] published in 2017 by the C. Hurst & Co. In his chapter, Rehman highlights multiple pressures experienced by the politics of the Pashtun community in Karachi. According to a book review published in Herald (Pakistan) magazine, one of the interesting features in his very cogent analysis is how the jihadi groups in Karachi appropriated criminal methods of extortion in order to raise funds and in doing so ended up harassing their own core ethnic group — Pakhtuns, specifically wealthy transporters and businessmen in the community.^[13]

Rehman has also written research reports and articles for several national and international publications and journals, including the Terrorism Monitor of the Jamestown Foundation, CTC Sentinel, a publication of the Combating Terrorism Center and Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Center.

Awards and fellowships

Rehman won four Agahi Journalism Awards in 2013 for his reports on minorities and security issues. In February 2021, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, has chosen Rehman for 2021 Resilience Fellowship with aim to help uncover the impact of extortion in Pakistan.^[14]

References

^ "Zia Ur Rehman:Writer - The News International: Latest News Breaking, Pakistan News". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
^ "Zia-ur-Rehman". Global Initiative. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
^ SAJP Fellows 2018 from the University of Westminster, London. http://www.chevening.org/fellows/sajp-fellows Retrieved 24 June 2018.
^ Craig, Tim (2014-02-14). "In Karachi, Pakistan's capital of violence, even the police are not safe from Taliban attacks". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
^ "Teenage couple electrocuted in Pakistan in 'honor killing': police". Reuters. 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
^ "Taliban 'no-go zones' liberated in Karachi". The Express Tribune. 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
^ Babar, Majeed (2011-10-01). "Why Are Pakistan's Militant Groups Splintering?". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
^ Progressive reporting and analysis can change skewed perceptions of a conflict February 5, 2015 http://san-pips.com/printview.php?action=events&id=124
^ "Citizen journalism training helps youth tell a different story". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
^ "Saleem, Javeria, Prevailing bloodshed in Karachi, The Nation". Retrieved 31 August 2014.
^ "Seminar on Tackling violent conflict and extremism in Karachi". PIPS Islamabad. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
^ "Cityscapes of Violence in Karachi | Hurst Publishers".
^ Siddiqi, Farhan Hanif (2017-10-13). "Analysing violence in Karachi". Herald Magazine. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
^ Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, 11 Feb 2021 https://resiliencefund.globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Fellowship-2021-Announcement_ENG.pdf Retrieved 26 Feb, 2021