About Us
The Pakistan Discussion Forum (PDF) at SOAS, is a student-led platform dedicated to fostering critical, inclusive, and intellectually stimulating conversations regarding Pakistan's politics, society, history and culture. Open to students of all backgrounds, PDF seeks to go beyond surface-level narratives and create space for meaningful engagement with the country's complexities through a decolonial and interdisciplinary lens.
We host panel discussions, film screenings, speaker events, and informal dialogues that explore pressing issues from across the spectrum – political, social, economic, and cultural.
In the past, PDF has had the privilege of hosting notable figures such as former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, economist Miftah Ismail, journalist Wajahat S Khan, physicist and public intellectual Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, political analyst Zulfi Bukhari and historian Professor Ishtiaq Ahmed amongst others.