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Remembering a Champion of Freedom

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In 2014, CNN producer Linda Roth and I gave a presentation at a place called The Second Floor or “T2F” in Karachi. We discussed “The Image of the Journalist” with a lively, thoughtful group of people who had questions about the sensational news coverage they were seeing in Pakistan and how journalism ethics could be improved. It was a welcome opportunity for us to interact with news consumers, and not just the journalists we had come to teach. Our talk even made news in the local press. After the session, we wished we could have lingered longer in this combination of coffee house, exhibit area and meeting space. It struck us as an island of sanity in the urban chaos of Karachi.

In this PBS video, T2F’s founder, Sabeen Mahmud, discusses the importance of having a safe place for ideas to thrive. “It’s open to all, anyone who walks through the doors,” she said. “That is the respite that we need from the anguish and the violence.” She also spoke about her personal safety in a dangerous city: “Everyone gets mugged and looted pretty regularly. I have a very cavalier attitude to fear. When the time comes the time will come. I drive around, I go where I want… but that’s not most people.”

It didn’t take long for Linda and me to experience what she was talking about. Officials from the US consulate in Karachi, who had escorted us to the talk, hurried us out of the building. We had just enough time to notice that, in contrast to the peaceful dialog inside, a menacing group of people had gathered outside T2F. What was their intent? We sped away in armored vehicles without finding out. Clearly, T2F was a target.

On April 24, 2015, Sabeen’s time came. She was shot and killed as she locked up the cafe after a discussion of freedom in Balochistan, a gathering similar to the one Linda and I had attended with people who came for peaceful discussion. The assassins also shot and wounded her mother. No one has claimed responsibility for this senseless act. I hope the spirit of her T2F will survive in a world that desperately needs it.