Afrah Jamal

(No Chinese feathers were ruffled during the making of this book) Published in Daily Times / Saturday, July 23, 2011 Published Under the Title: The new Peking order Reviewed by Afrah Jamal July 1971 is an eventful month for Nixon’s National Security Advisor (at the time referred to as a Secretary of State in everything but the title). He disappears from Pakistan, resurfacing in Peking and no one is the wiser. He manages to keep at least one of the two secret servicemen in the dark about the (earth-shattering) nature of his whirlwind trip. The secret mission to China, undertaken at Nixon’s behest, marks the beginning of a beautiful (!) “ period of strategic cooperation” that has somehow passed numerous stress tests, withstood serious setbacks (Tiananmen Square) and seemingly insurmountable obstacles (Taiwan). Archived issues of TIME magazine reveal that this former Secretary of State (1973-1977) was once hailed as “ the American magician ” by the Egyptians and labelled a “ su...

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy First Published in Daily Times / Saturday, July 02, 2011 Republished by ChowkYadgar Reviewed by Afrah Jamal Jamil Ahmad’s debut novel is ostensibly about a boy and a stretch of land. At first glance, there is nothing special about Tor Baz. Is he the hero? He seems strangely absent from a major part of the narrative, so not a hero in the traditional sense of the word. If this is a coming of age story, the star billing must go to a land that has become a near permanent fixture on the western world’s radar. Written sometime in the early 1970s and published in 2008, The Wandering Falcon is a fictional piece of work that charts a slow meandering course through the lawless frontiers. Undercurrents of danger have always coursed through its veins but recent events have bestowed a more menacing look and feel to the wild west of Pakistan. Jamil Ahmad has a special insight into the ways of the tribes. As a Pakistani civil servant, he has...

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Published in Daily Times / Saturday, June 18, 2011 Reviewed by Afrah Jamal Published under the title: 17 Reasons to Hope “History will be what we make it. If we go on as we are, history will have its revenge and retribution” — from the movie, ‘Good Night, & Good Luck’ A region known for most “terrorist sightings”, a place feared for harbouring medieval mindsets next to progressive thinkers and a nation shunned for having an affinity for nuclear toys. By turns a cautionary tale, an indispensable ally and an international pariah, Pakistan does not fit into any mould — for long. But its name crops up whenever things go awry. Pakistan: Beyond the ‘Crisis State’ is a compilation of articles put together by Maleeha Lodhi that countermands the grim prognosis. When Ms Lodhi, who has served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the US and UK, acknowledges that “resilience has been part of Pakistan’s story from its inception, obscured by the s...

(Published in SHE Magazine June 2011) 7 years ago, Tim McGirk of TIME wondered if ISI could help find Bin Laden. In a way they did. Pakistan’s decision to share a critical piece of information sealed Osama bin Laden’s fate. But the hand that dealt the fatal blow was American. The Inter-Services Intelligence – (ISI), never popular to begin with, has seen its credibility plummet since 2nd May 2011. Other services have come into their share of criticism but trying to ascertain Pakistan’s top spy agency’s role in this fiasco can be a daunting challenge. In one day they were checkmated by an ally, became suspects in a crime, forced to be spectators of their own show and put on public trial. Over the years, visiting American scholars have expressed incredulity at ISI’s inability to locate bin Laden given the agencies reach (deep) and reputation (fearsome). While they may be convinced in their minds of ISI’s duplicity, its head, Lieutenant General Shuja Pasha has pleaded guilty to a le...

I've already acknowledged the bravery of our men in 'You Can't Handle The Truth'.... First Published in Daily Times / Saturday, June 04, 2011 Some new information surfaced immediately after I hit the send button on my first piece ‘You Can’t Handle The Truth?’ (Daily Times, May 30, 2011) — information that casts new light on the events of May 22, 2011 when an indeterminate number of men stormed a naval airbase and targeted its prized assets. I say indeterminate because none of the officials seem to agree on a number. This new information holds answers to some key questions — motive (why target the Navy?), the mystery surrounding the downgraded number of attackers (not 12) and determining who was really responsible for security on that fateful day when a surgical strike paralysed an entire base. Incidentally, it could be a brief extension of the same light the slain journalist, Saleem Shahzad , was trying to shine on the PNS Mehran tragedy. A recent headline, ‘...

I dont react to crank messages as a rule, but when this morning i get a 'Good Morning Afrah' at 7am.... 7am!!! from a strange number, i smsed back asking who it was. NO Response. So i called & someone said Hello then went silent...freaking out that they knew my name (& could spell it) I wondered (was it isi sending a warning shot (heaven forbid) on my navy story) & then took a childish & ineffective stand by texting 'who is this...coward, ans or i'll report u'. False bravado on my part. How was I to know MM Alam had just learnt 2 text... Image Courtesy of: http://cdn5.staztic.com/cdn/screenshot/privus-caller-id-plus-1-month-401-1.jpg

( Sequel coming NEXT hopefully) Published in Daily Times / Monday, May 30, 2011 The guard is on edge. He sits up warily as a small car pulls up by the PAF Museum. But it is just some good Samaritans who hesitantly walk over to the stone slab to deposit a bouquet. The tribute is for the martyrs of the PNS Mehran tragedy who have given their lives protecting their base just a few hours earlier. The onlookers are moved. A media man leaps up with his camera. This little show of solidarity came at a time when the Pakistani nation needs major reassurances. A handful of men who can storm a major naval aviation base, take out its main surveillance capability, inflict heavy casualties and hold up the entire garrison for more than 16 hours not only challenge the military’s omnipotent status, they play havoc with its image. While this is not the first attack on Pakistan’s armed forces, it is the first of its kind. There is a wave of sympathy for the fallen, buried under an avalanche of ...

Published in Daily Times / Saturday, May 14, 2011 Reviewed by: Afrah Jamal Author: Shehryar Fazli “Cabarets, conspiracies and a couple of crazies.” It is the early 1970s and Pakistan is in transition. The air crackles with energy; the land sizzles with intrigue. The significance of this time will not be lost upon readers. Islamists were still searching for a foothold; democracy beckoned; and Pakistan was about to lose its East Wing. Anyone casually trawling through the streets of Karachi now will find little trace of its once vibrant nightlife. Back then it was not a ‘safe haven’ — just a haven. Shehryar Fazli’s generation may have missed the excitement but his protagonist will return to his native country — and land atop a pit of vipers. It will be a fraught homecoming. The author thinks the nation has yet to get over what happened in December 1971. He feels connected to this juncture in time as a moment when Pakistan could have gone a different way — and that they let th...

By Afrah Jamal Published in Daily Times / Saturday, April 30, 2011 The visiting media (excavation) team who rifled through Faisal Shahzad’s past had hit a brick wall last year. Because he is a naturalised American citizen and the son of a senior Pakistani air force officer, the foreign press must have been just as baffled as their Pakistani counterparts. And since they found little of value in these archaeological expeditions, they gave their terrorist a back story to go with the popular narrative. Putting up the failed Times Square bomber’s upbringing on trial alongside his present probably made it easier to explain this anomaly. If the world they fabricated out of fantasy and myth appeared alien to Pakistanis back home, it is probably because it was. Faisal, who went through the system without triggering red flags, was depicted as a zombie being drilled in violent Islam and fed anti-western lies as a child, getting in and out of fancy cars followed by a trail of nannies, raise...

Published in Daily Times / Saturday, April 23, 2011 Reviewed By Afrah Jamal By Daniel Domscheit-Berg with Tina Klopp A leaked video, allegedly of ‘the most dangerous man in the world’ on the dance floor is doing rounds on the internet these days . As Assange himself will tell you,“ Nothing is sacred anymore .” Those who picture WikiLeaks — the whistle-blowing website — as an impregnable fortress with Julian Assange its modern day warrior casually brandishing incendiary matter will also find Julian’s accomplice busily stripping away its veneer of invincibility and with that, its founder’s credibility . The duo is known for upsetting the global applecart of secrets and lies and if the truth is ‘ out there ’, it is because of one Julian Assange and Daniel Domscheit-Berg who put it there . From secret US military intelligence documents and diplomatic cables to contents of Sarah Palin’s private emails and handbooks from Guantanamo Bay, first American fraternity and Scientology, ...

Published in Daily Times / Saturday, April 09, 2011 By Afrah Jamal T2F may be a popular hunt but it was not easy to find; not without a GPS enabled phone, a knowledgeable Karachiwala or both to lead the way, which is ironic, since that day, it was to be the venue for the launch of a “city guide and features magazine”. ‘Aye Karachi,’ a brainchild of Rumana Husain, has been five years in the making. ‘Aye’ is not a nautical term (as in ‘Aye Aye Capn’) but an Urdu word formed by combining the letter Alif with a Yay (‘O’ in English); this means that the region’s first quarterly, bilingual city guide and features magazine has nothing to do with pirates and everything to do with Karachi. Described as a quarterly portrait of the city, ‘Aye Karachi’ is more than a city guide – and serves to fill a void that few realised even existed. This need was first identified by Rumana when she noticed that while major cities of the world boasted of their own magazines, the commercial hub of Pakis...

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Published in Daily Times / Saturday, March 26, 2011 Reviewed by Afrah Jamal Mandela is known for playing two distinct roles in his lifetime. One was as Prisoner 466/64 on the infamous Robben Island (now a UN World Heritage Site); the other was becoming the first president of a democratic South Africa. He received worldwide accolades for making both performances memorable . Since 2009, July 18 has been declared the Nelson Mandela International Day for freedom, justice and democracy . Mandela — described as an “o bsessive record keeper ”, can now add another chapter to his extensive legacy; one that will give the world an opportunity to use his own words as the key to decipher his original message. Conversations with Myself is a compilation of private papers, prison letters, speeches, taped conversations with a fellow prisoner (Ahmed Kathrada), excerpts of interviews given to TIME magazine editor Richard Stengel, and a draft of a...

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Reviewed by: Afrah Jamal Author: Pramod Kapoor Published in Daily Times / 12 March 2011 Margaret Bourke-White came to India to “bear witness to the fall of the British Empire”. Partition was still a year away and her lens, set aglow from its dying embers was trained towards the brewing conflagration that was to set the region ablaze. Margaret, who has been called the “finest woman photographer of her time”, was commissioned by LIFE magazine to cover the “exchange of population”. Pramod Kapoor, founder/publisher Roli Books, came across a selection of historically significant photographs taken by Margaret in Pakistan and India and decided to weave them into a fresh narrative. Witness to Life and Freedom reopens an old chapter adding facets of the freedom struggle seen from a unique vantage point. These, together with previously unpublished images taken over two years (1946-1948), chronicling the death and destruction left in the wa...

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Published in Daily Times / Saturday, February 26, 2011 Under the Title: A Play-book for Losers Reviewed By: Afrah Jamal Author: Rujuta Diwekar Master : “You are free to eat.” Po : “Am I?” Master : “Are you?” — Dialogue from Kung Fu Panda (2008) Po, the Kung Fu Panda, doubted his mentor/master much like readers will doubt a nutritionist guru when she hands over an exclusive pass to eat and, yet, maintain a strategic advantage in the fight against fat. They need not . A thriving industry feeds off of ignorance about weight-related issues. And when health and happiness become collateral damage in the mad dash for the finish line, it is time to alter the game plan. ‘Nutritionist to the stars’ Rujuta makes this lonely trek to the promised land a joyful experience where food is not the enemy, and learning the art of making better judgment calls is on the menu. Since she labels the struggle with weight loss a tamasha (spectacl...

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Thanks to the Writer for the lovely emails despite the 'scathing review' Published in Daily Times / Saturday, February 12, 2011 Reviewed by Afrah Jamal Author: Rommel Rodrigues November 26, 2008 was India’s 9/11 — or so they say. It was the day 10 gunmen held one city hostage for over 60 hours. A day that sent accusations flying across the border, and the fear of something deadlier being traded saw the international community scrambling for cover. India was breaking news for days. Pakistan also made headlines around that time but not for the same reasons. They caught the perpetrator. Ajmal Kasab is exhibit A in the case against the country of his birth . What little is known about Kasab (the name literally means butcher), beyond his nationality (Pakistani) and vocation (deadly pawn) comes from a hastily complied sketch leaked to the media in the early days of the attack. The rest came from following the trail of bre...

Book Review: Cutting Edge PAF WOMEN in the PAF: AN ENSEMBLE CAST by Afrah Jamal - Appeared in HILAL (Pakistan Armed Forces Magazine) Feb 2010 PAF: Both Sides of the COIN Published In HILAL(Military Mag) Jan 2010 INTERVIEW: What makes a Fighter Ace? Book Review: Three Presidents and an Aide - Life, Power and Politics by Ambassador Arshad Sami Khan SJ Appeared in Daily Times 9 Jan 2010 EVENT: It Happened This Morning.. VIEW: You can’t handle the truth? Book Review: Milestones in a Political Journey By M Asghar Khan PUBLISHED IN DAILY TIMES 23 JAN 2010 Sajad Haider Saved my Life - i think. UNPUBLISHED (so far) Book Review: FLIGHT OF THE FALCON Story of a Fighter Pilot by S. Sajad Haider PUBLISHED In Daily Times 16 Jan 2010 VIEW: A BASE FOR AN EYE (PUBLISHED IN GEO NEWS BLOG) VIEW: SPOOKS in the Dog House (Published in SHE Magazine June 2011) VIEW: An Inconvenient Truth — According To A Little Bird VIEW: Faisal Shahzad — the (un)true back story VIEW: No More Sit...