Afrah Jamal

Published in Daily Times (Pakistan) / 27 April 2013 Author : Shaukat Qadir Reviewed by : Afrah Jamal Book Cover Courtesy: Link The insider account by a former SEAL later used to prop up the raid sequence of ‘Zero Dark Thirty fills in the dramatic details but a change in vantage point zooms in on the Pakistani equation. In less than a 100 pages, the author proceeds to tie up loose ends leftover from the reams of official spin surrounding the events of May 1 2011. He is a retired infantry Brigadier from Pakistan Army who uses his unprecedented access to the corridors of military power to launch an independent inquiry into the incident. His research takes in isolated facts, hidden motives and shadowy agendas to create an alternate timeline of events. They correspond with the main outlines of the sanctioned version but differ in the approach. The resultant document builds an appealing profile that demands a second look at the so called ‘mansion’ in Abbottabad and the dead man w...

Published in Daily Times (Pakistan) / Wed 17 April 2013 By : Afrah Jamal Thank you Mr. ZK for the invite Two distinct narratives are at play: one is reflected in the glossy surfaces that adorn the narrow hallway; the other is more subtle and concerns the boy behind the lens. At some point they converge and their combined power lends added poignancy to the proceedings. With a few well-directed clicks, Furrukh Mughal has brought the inscrutable heart of the city to joyous life. The 16-year-old photographer may be physically challenged but he is also a fighter, refining the essence of life and charting new pathways to success. Granted he is different, but different in this context also refers to his exceptional spirit and poetic vision. Furrukh Mughal (C) with German deputy Consul-General (R), Hans Juergen Paschke and Consul General Korea (L) Chang hee Lee, Tabassum Mughal (far back) An exhibition of Furrukh Mughal’s photographs held at a local hotel in Karachi on April...

Published in Daily Times / 6 Apr 2013 Edited by: Pervez Hoodbhoy Preface by: John Polyani (Nobel Prize Winner) Reviewed by : Afrah Jamal “ I like to appreciate the little things in life, like nuclear fusion....” — Madison Hatter On a pleasant February afternoon, a nuclear physicist calmly painted a chilling picture of what would happen in the event of a nuclear attack on our pretty little venue by the seaside. “ O, we would be the lucky ones, ” he declared, “ .... eviscerated ” within nano seconds, “ ...wouldn’t feel a thing. But those poor souls in Landhi, ” he shook his head, “ now they would suffer from radiation effects for years, and a slow painful end, ” he added. Apparently, the devastation of Hiroshima would pale in comparison, given the size of Karachi’s populace and the prevalence of plastic. The terrifying session served as a primer for Pervez Hoodbhoy’s new book, Confronting the bomb — Pakistani and Indian Scientists Speak out . Though this is a compilatio...