Taha Siddiqui is a Pakistani investigative journalist living in exile in France since 2018. He founded and runs the DISSIDENT club, a bar in Paris where dissidents of the world meet. He recently published his first book - an autobiography as a graphic novel called Dissident Club, named after his bar which documents his journey from growing up in an Islamist family to becoming an atheist and his fight for freedom of expression. The book has been translated in 4 more languages after being a hit in the French market. He is also a visiting faculty at SciencesPo and continues to write for international news organizations like the Washington Post, Guardian, Foreign Policy, etc. Back in Pakistan, he was reporting for leading international media including the New York Times, the Guardian and France24. In 2014, he received the Prix Albert Londres (French equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize) for a documentary on Pakistan and Afghanistan. He had to flee his homeland six years ago after surviving a kidnapping and assassination attempt allegedly carried out by the Pakistani army officials after threatening him for years to censor his reporting on military abuse in the country. In 2019, he was informed by French and American governments that his name was on a Kill List.
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With Zahra Salah Uddin and Taha Siddiqui
Join us for a conversation with journalists and illustrators from Pakistan to discuss how their unique use of graphic novels has furthered the art of journalism and telling untold stories about complicated issues such as political regimes, repression, press censorship and the use of comedy to share serious life experiences.