Arafat Mazhar is the founder of Puffball, an animation studio, and director of multiple animated short films, including Shehr e Tabassum (2020) and Swipe (2020), which takes on the nexus of technology and religious extremism, which has won multiple accolades including best short film at the oscar 2023 qualifying film festival - CINANIMA. Swipe also became the first animated film from Pakistan showcased at Annecy 2021. Arafat has also created multiple educational online platforms: Shehri Pakistan, which produces civic and legal literacy animations; Hashiya, a channel with a focus on critical approaches to history. He is a published author in the Bloomsbury publication ' Freedom of Expression in Islam: Challenging Apostasy and Blasphemy Laws.

The Pakistan Experience is an independently produced podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan through conversations.

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Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

2:30 The Blasphemy Law

6:30 Hadh, Ijma and Application on Non-Muslims

18:00 How the Pakistani Blasphemy Law was Drafted

40:00 Use of religion in Politics

47:30 Reformation Arguments and State-Religion Nexus

57:00 Discussion in the Parliament

1:01:30 Citizenship of Non-Muslims and Jurisprudence

1:18:00 Definition of Ishq and Speech

1:26:30 Things to be mindful of and Actionable Items

1:38:00 Conclusion and Mashal Khan