Afrah Jamal

Published in Global Village Space under the title : Fixing Religious Fault lines in the age of ISIS / 23rd Oct 2017 A few days before Muharram, grand proclamations advocating peace and calm that suggested people shun their religious, sectarian and ethnic biases “to promote the great characteristics of sacrifice, unity and discipline” served as a prologue to bridging the ultimate divide. Then came the promises. The clergy reconstituted the ‘National Reconciliatory Council' in a bid to propel the vision of a united front. An awakening followed. Terrorism must go. And there were reality checks. How does Pakistan overcome decades of dissension to realize its dreams of interfaith harmony? Such sentiments while admirable face roadblocks. But then there was a declaration – that religion is a matter between a person and his creator . That no one has to prove they are Muslims. It was a surprisingly candid admission – one that perhaps did not need to be spelled out yet the stat...

Published in Global Affairs? / Oct 2017 When someone like Altaf Hussain – the one of body bags, bhatta fame meets someone like US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher known for being rabidly anti Pakistan, it sets the room a buzzing. The founding father of MQM who lives in exile in London and under whose reign Karachi was reduced to a hulk, now wanders the halls with a human rights violation pitch that always tests well with Western audiences as he leads an anti Pakistan lobby in his spare time. It could be nothing. Or it could mean everything. The Coming Storm or a Storm in a Tea Cup? Dana Rohrabacher who went on to meet WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange – the fugitive, had once drafted a bill with Senator Ted Poe to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terror making him the perfect candidate for such a rendezvous. Altaf Hussain was also seen hobnobbing with the exiled Khan of Kalat, a Baloch dissident strongly opposed to CPEC and soft towards Modi. Altaf’s closest aide has expressed s...

Published by Global Affairs? / Oct 2017 Written Early Sept 2017 Admittedly, it is an unusual sight - China scrambling to issue clarifications and placate its closest ally in the aftermath of the BRICS Summit. China does not make foreign policy blunders, dictate strategy or put its stamp on statements without reading the fine print. Neither does it subscribe to the cowboy style - public shaming, threats, excessive use of carrots / sticks, blackmail – bluster. Yet the declaration issued at the BRICS annual summit held at Xiamen that singled out Pakistan based terror groups led to an ‘et tu China’ moment and saw Beijing in ‘damage control mode’. To review what led to this dramatic break from tradition means that China’s perspective be considered and Pakistan’s attempts at extricating itself from a tangled web of proxies be factored in the narrative alongside its successes and failures, to balance the scales. It may also be a good time to commence image / nation building efforts w...