Shahbaz Taseer's guest appearances

Shahbaz Taseer

War Studies

Heart and Soul

Mooroo Podcast

Nabeel Qureshi

Joshua Wong

Cardinal Pell

Haile Selassie

Ingrid Betancourt

Amit Chaudhuri

Junaid Akram

Chely Wright

Benedict Spinoza

Ali Mirza

Daniel Genis

Ibtihaj Muhammed

Sina Hakiman

Assmaah Helal

Jibran Nasir

OwlTail

Shahbaz Taseer is a Pakistani businessman, and the son of the former Governor of Punjab (Pakistan) Salman Taseer. In August 2011, following his father's assassination, he was kidnapped by militants in Lahore while he was driving to his office from home. Taseer was held in captivity for around four and a half years and was recovered from Kuchlak, Balochistan on 8 March 2016.Taseer's kidnapping was referred as one of the most high-profile kidnappings in Pakistan by The Guardian. BBC's HARDtalk interviewed Taseer about his days in captivity. In an interview, he mentioned that he was held by Uzbek militants, before eventually being passed to the Taliban. During an interview, Shahbaz Taseer told: "I was ambushed by about five men... My first instinct was they were going to kill me. They drugged me five minutes after abducting me. I passed out - they had beaten me up very badly because I was moving and screaming while being drugged." He further mentioned that the militants used to beat them badly and his fingernails have been pulled out. The militants also sewed his mouth shut and kept him starving for days.

Shahbaz Taseer is a Pakistani businessman, and the son of the former Governor of Punjab (Pakistan) Salman Taseer. In August 2011, following his father's assassination, he was kidnapped by militants in Lahore while he was driving to his office from home. Taseer was held in captivity for around four and a half years and was recovered from Kuchlak, Balochistan on 8 March 2016.Taseer's kidnapping was referred as one of the most high-profile kidnappings in Pakistan by The Guardian. BBC's HARDtalk interviewed Taseer about his days in captivity. In an interview, he mentioned that he was held by Uzbek militants, before eventually being passed to the Taliban. During an interview, Shahbaz Taseer told: "I was ambushed by about five men... My first instinct was they were going to kill me. They drugged me five minutes after abducting me. I passed out - they had beaten me up very badly because I was moving and screaming while being drugged." He further mentioned that the militants used to beat them badly and his fingernails have been pulled out. The militants also sewed his mouth shut and kept him starving for days.

John McCarthy was held hostage for five years in Lebanon; it would test not only of his mental resolve but also his faith. In this three-part season for Heart and Soul John meets three people of three different religions held against their will. John talks to them about how their faith sustained them in their darkest hours of captivity, including physical and psychological torture. John shares his own experiences of being held in Beirut and how for him, the Bible was a crucial source of information, entertainment and comfort.Shahbaz Taseer was a hostage for more than four and a half years after being kidnapped at gunpoint, only seven months after his father, Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab, was assassinated by his own bodyguard for defending a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. In a remarkable interview for Faith in Freedom, Shahbaz tells John McCarthy how, having rejected Islam while growing up, he read the Quran for the first time in his cell, with only his mufti guard as his spiritual guide. And John hears how the stories of prophets, like Jonah, helped preserve his sanity Now, 2 years after his release, he has come to see his survival of torture as a miracle which has transformed his life.Produced by Lissa Cook for BBC World Service.Image: Prison Bars, Credit: BBC

John McCarthy was held hostage for five years in Lebanon; it would test not only of his mental resolve but also his faith. In this three-part season for Heart and Soul John meets three people of three different religions held against their will. John talks to them about how their faith sustained them in their darkest hours of captivity, including physical and psychological torture. John shares his own experiences of being held in Beirut and how for him, the Bible was a crucial source of information, entertainment and comfort. Shahbaz Taseer was a hostage for more than four and a half years after being kidnapped at gunpoint, only seven months after his father, Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab, was assassinated by his own bodyguard for defending a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. In a remarkable interview for Faith in Freedom, Shahbaz tells John McCarthy how, having rejected Islam while growing up, he read the Quran for the first time in his cell, with only his mufti guard as his spiritual guide. And John hears how the stories of prophets, like Jonah, helped preserve his sanity Now, 2 years after his release, he has come to see his survival of torture as a miracle which has transformed his life. Produced by Lissa Cook for BBC World Service. Image: Prison Bars, Credit: BBC

Faith in Freedom: Shahbaz Taseer