Sabeen Mahmud (20 June 1974 – 24 April 2015) (Urdu: صبین محمود) was a progressivePakistani human rights activist and social worker who founded the Karachi-based cafe The Second Floor. She also presided over the Karachi branch of TiE.[1]
Born and raised in Karachi, Mahmud was educated at Karachi Grammar and later at the Kinnaird College. She later founded an interactive media and technology consulting firm and worked to establish the Citizens Archive of Pakistan.[2] She set up The Second Floor (T2F) in 2007 aimed at providing a community space for open dialogue.[3] Under Mahmud's leadership, T2F arranged a series of liberal social activities.[4] She also co-led protests against the Red Mosque in Islamabad, and also took part in Pakistan for All, a campaign to end sectarianism and religious intolerance in Pakistan.[4]
On 24 April 2015, Mahmud hosted a debate on the Balochistan conflict which included activists like Mama Qadeer.[5] After the event, she was shot dead by a gunman on her way home after hosting a seminar at T2F.[6] As of 20 May 2015, Pakistani authorities have arrested the culprit behind Mahmud's murder.[7] Mahmud is referred to as part of 'Pakistan’s liberal, urban, globalised civil society'.[8]
Life
Mahmud wanted to challenge injustice and discrimination, and to encourage critical thinking; she told Dawn that her biggest dream is to "change the world for the better through the Internet."[9] She founded PeaceNiche, an organisation that provides a "social platform" for public good.[10][11]
Mahmud founded a small tech company called "bits" with Zaheer Kidvai, with whom she worked in 2 other companies from the age of 14, and considered him her parent and mentor. In 2006, she founded The Second Floor (T2F), a cafe that hosted public forum discussions, film screenings, poetry writing, stand-up comedy, and live theatre.[12] In 2013, Sabeen co-hosted Pakistan's first civic hackathon, held at T2F in Karachi,[13] which was designed to bring together people from different disciplines to brainstorm ways to solve civic problems.[14] Mahmud hosted public figures, including Ayesha Siddiqa who authored a controversial book on military financing, leading to the Inter-Services Intelligence contacting The Second Floor.[15]
In 2013, she told Wired magazine that she didn't want an armed security guard in The Second Floor: "I said, that’s the price you pay for having a public space. I’m not having people checked and a military guy there because of a pervasive fear." She went on to state "Read Chomsky. Things are dangerous and bad things happen. But you can’t let fear control you, you’ll never get anything done."[13][16] Her work received coverage in international media.[17][18][19][20]
Death
Protest after the murder.
During the late hours of 24 April 2015, Mahmud was fatally shot by gunmen on her way home after hosting a seminar.[21] The gunmen (later identified as Saad Aziz and Aliur Rehman) shot her four or five times with a 9mm gun, as her car waited at a traffic light less than 500 metres from T2F.[21]
According to a police official, the murder was a direct target killing[6] and was booked by the police under the Terrorism Act. Her mother Mahenaz Mahmud was also critically wounded in the attack and taken to the Aga Khan Hospital for treatment by Nuzhat Kidvai.[6] The seminar, titled 'Unsilencing Balochistan (Take 2)', was held at the T2F cafe and focused on Balochistan. Among the guest speakers was the Baloch activist Mama Qadeer.[6]
On 20 May, Chief Minister of Sindh Qaim Ali Shah stated that the mastermind behind Mahmud's murder had been arrested. The culprit also confessed his involvement in the bus shooting against Ismailis in Karachi.[7] The accused was identified as Saad Aziz.[7]
