Afrah Jamal

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Author: James P Farwell Foreword by: Joseph D. Duffy Reviewed by: Afrah Jamal Published in Daily Times / Saturday, June 23, 2012 under the title: Sound-'Bites' The shifting sands of local politics, the riotous nature of its circus acts and the principal players responsible for their upkeep make for an interesting case study. As an expert in strategic communication, James P Farwell has spent a decade advising the US Department of Defence (DoD), the US Special Operations Command and US Strategic Command on the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan. His candid new book traces the muddled contours of a Pakistani-style political arena showcasing a disgraced nuclear scientist, a deceased prime minister and a disgruntled dictator and the far-reaching impact of their sound-bytes. An astute observer, Farwell attempts to cut through the constant haze of confusion that hangs over Pakistan. He admits that General Musharraf, an easy targ...

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Reviewed by: Afrah Jamal Published in Daily Times / Saturday, October 23, 2010 Someone recalls seeing the ‘ legend ’ from a distance once at a duck shoot. An Imran Khan sighting generally sent mortal men, women, children and tabloids into frenzy. Not here. As this chap sheepishly admitted, “a fighter pilot’s ego will rival that of a highly sought after cricketing legend. ” And so Imran remained seated in the car seemingly oblivious to the trio while they stayed rooted to the spot pretending to gawk at the ducks. No duck has stolen Khan’s thunder before or since. Imran Khan’s popularity can be gauged by a passage that claims that dignitaries from other Commonwealth countries reportedly asked to see two things, one of which was our great Khan and the other was the Khyber Pass. Over time, Imran Khan would go through several transformations, moving effortlessly between international phenomena, ‘ dream catcher ’, ‘ good Samarit...

Thank you Dost Publication for the review copy First Published in Daily Times / 09 Oct 2010 Reviewed by - Afrah Jamal It is not every day one finds the author of a book about murder himself implicated in a triple homicide. In our part of the world, however, it could simply mean that the ‘suspect’ was too snoopy for his/her own good or simply stepped on some VIP’s toes. Fortunately, it was the latter case here (he fell out with the Islamabad police) and an exonerated Shakeel Anjum shakes off the stigma of a murderer and dons the garb of a detective. He is, after all, a crime reporter who has been associated with a local English daily for a long time and has clocked 32 years in the arena. This provides him with the requisite credentials to dive into the deep end but it may not necessarily give him groundbreaking investigative journalistic powers to ferret out the truth about Benazir’s assassination. Yet, this is exactly what the author claims to have done. The purpose of the boo...

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Author: Fatima Bhutto Reviewed by: Afrah Jamal Published in Daily Times / 10 Apr 2010 Google Fatima Bhutto and George Clooney’s name comes up — the Daily Telegraph thinks they are an item; peruse her new book and the journey through the wonderland with its glitz and glamour takes an unexpectedly macabre twist. Her family history is to blame for blighting the sunny landscape. Bhuttos are the ruling elite. Every so often they run for office. This quest leaves a bloody trail and each attempt almost always ends badly. But their political aspirations override self-preservation. The Bhutto family name is as much a liability as an asset, and each generation manages to find itself contributing to a gruesome storyline. If there is anyone born to write this story, it is Fatima, proclaims William Dalrymple on the cover of her new book Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter’s Memoir. When it comes to invoking pathos, romanticising her father’...

PUBLISHED IN THE POST JAN 05, 2007 Insinuations – by politicians and media pundits, are making global rounds. About election rigging, the opposition claims that a well known political leaders’ assassination came hours before she was about to uncover a spectacular result manipulation scheme hatched by none other than the government. About the incident itself, the existence of Baitulah Mehsud – a Taliban commander who likes beheading Pakistani soldiers, or the Al-Qaeda, fond of targeting odd interior ministers in mosques or rallies and attacking children’s buses, is disregarded in favour of the notion that none of them could possibly have a hand in the recent assassination. About the post-mortem, they allege that the medical report was cooked up. About the subsequent law and order breakdown, they maintain that no party loyalist could possibly have been involved in arson or looting and the sole beneficiary of the post assassination deterioration of law and order situation was a gover...

By Afrah Jamal PUBLISHED IN THE POST OCT 27, 07 It is no longer a toss up between ‘will they?’ or ‘won’t they?’ Not when it comes to terrorist strikes in 2007. Analysts are more likely to have turned, albeit grimly, to pinpointing the ‘where’, ‘when’ and speculate about the ‘who’. The recent bombing in Karachi confirms that ‘where’ is not that difficult to ascertain as it gradually dawns on people that the attack in the early hours of 19 Oct 2007 is merely a snippet of a prolonged terror campaign. Therefore, it is futile to pretend that these are isolated incidents of violence, easily pre-empted or averted. Foreign Correspondent, Greg Palkot covered Ms. Bhutto’s return for FOX News Channel and made a valid point in his blog - Dispatches from the Terror Front: Can Terrorism Be Tamed in Pakistan? that, “ In the terror analysis business, hindsight is always 20/20” . However, concerns of the citizens in the days leading up to 18 October 2007 were worth paying attention to. Their cr...

PUBLISHED IN THE POST DEC 08, 07 Pakistan’s kaleidoscopic political scenario leaves the nation hedging its bets on the possible outcome while an apparent alliance of leading political parties emerges, still holding a possible electoral boycott as a valuable bargaining chip. Meanwhile a charter of demands devised by the APDM-ARD, may suggest revoking post November 03 2007 actions of the government, which resulted in a re-shuffled judiciary, and the cherry picked caretaker government. The governments consent to the charter will automatically set the ‘heads you win, tails i lose’ clause in motion for the President and allay oppositions’ fear of rigging to an extent. Quite possibly, it may bench the formidable opponent who has been in the game for 8 years and open the door for some of the major players whose democratic declarations are their strongest and perhaps only asset. Either that or a possible poll alliance of key parties would decide to go ahead and contest without seeking fur...