Over the past few years, Sabir Nazar has emerged as Pakistan's best known cartoonist for drawing a series of cartoons that take a sharply critical look at religious orthodoxy, conspiracy theories, and misinterpretations of current affairs that feed into the Pakistani mass consciousness. Through cartoons and comments posted on the social networking site Facebook, he offers biting insights that turn commonly-held viewpoints and beliefs about Pakistan on their heads.

n January 2014, I was released from a maximum-security prison in the middle of a desert in the United Arab Emirates. I had been imprisoned for nine months, all but two weeks without a conviction. The reason? UAE authorities accused me of threatening the country's national security by creating a sketch-comedy video parodying teenagers in Dubai and posting it on YouTube.