Dissident Spotlight: Ahmad Waqass Goraya
Ahmad Goraya's exile shows how far a tyrannical state can reach when it perceives a threat far from its borders.

Ahmad Waqass Goraya runs a satirical Facebook page where he criticizes Pakistan’s human rights abuses. There are plenty of things to accuse the Pakistani government of. According to Human Rights Watch:
“Throughout the year, the government continued to control media and curtail dissent. Authorities harassed and at times detained journalists and other members of civil society for criticizing government officials and policies. Violent attacks on members of the media also continued.”
Pakistan is also a hotbed for religious extremism. Islamist terrorists target ideological enemies, including police officers and members of Pakistan’s government. However, Pakistan’s government is also repressive and dangerous.
Two Encounters With Pakistan’s Government
In January 2017, government officials kidnapped Goraya and a few other writers. They were held for three weeks and tortured. In an interview with DW, Goraya explained why he continued to fight to get his Facebook page back and continue pointing out Pakistan’s human rights abuses:
“They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I am stronger now and I have nothing more to lose. So I engage with everyone openly and directly, be it the military's spokesman or the leader of the opposition party as I continue playing my role as a blogger. But our page (Mochi) is not back online because of Facebook's pro-regime policies. We have requested multiple times that the page be restored, but Facebook doesn't listen to us. As the founder of the page, I have the right to access my page."
Facebook didn’t reinstate his page, seeming to prefer market access to assisting dissidents. However, Goraya was able to move to the Netherlands after his release. That didn’t mean he was out of the government’s reach, though.
He was attacked outside his home in the Netherlands in February 2020. In January 2022, the U.K. government convicted a hitman who was hired to kill Goraya by Pakistani middlemen. Goraya’s targeting shows how it’s no longer enough for democracies to protect freedom of thought from internal enemies. The world’s autocracies are undermining that freedom from thousands of miles away.
We’re All Fighting Parallel Fights
Goraya remains an active blogger. He has posted tweets in English and Urdu calling attention to government abuses in Pakistan. His continued work has been made possible by governments committed to enforcing values that encourage dissent rather than stifle it.
Pakistan’s long reach also shows how globalized the fight between democracy and autocracy has become. Public intellectuals have sought safe cities for centuries. But the reach of government-sponsored assassins undermines the dissident’s search for safety and imperils the hopeful exercise of free thought.
We cannot replace government leaders or political parties in other countries. Instead, we can create safe spaces for people who are stubborn and brave enough to speak obvious truths to dangerous powers.