Afrah Jamal

First Published in Economic Affairs - Islamabad based Magazine (Pakistan) / Aug 2013 BY Afrah Jamal ‘What was it for ?' The BBC Two anchor asks Farooq Sattar (MQM’s Deputy Convener and Parliamentary leader) with an impassive face, referring to the stash of pounds found after a raid on Altaf Hussain’s London pad. ‘Whatever it was for ’, he answers, at his inarticulate best. The word ‘body bags’ ominously flashes on the screen, Mr. Sattar changes tactics; ‘ we were all laughing ’, dismissing it as a joke. The savvy anchor runs more damning clips. ‘It is out of context ’, Farooq declares. ‘ There is no reference to context ’, he adds helpfully. But your own SC took notice… ‘o’ that ’, ‘ mere emotional outburst. ’ Unlike those ‘media types’ this party member would not speculate on the origins or purpose of the stash. He, like other loyalists filed away the latest episode under ‘more malicious propaganda’ and ‘sinister witch hunts’, accused BBC of falling prey to T...

First Published in Daily Times (Pakistan) / 11 May 2013 (Election Day) Published under the Title : Lights, Camera, Action, Vote "Let no man imagine that he has no influence. Whoever he may be and whereever he may be placed, the man who ‘thinks’ becomes a light and power” — Henry George . The city has been overrun by campaign slogans; the cinema, on the other hand, was adorned by Chambaili banners. Everyone knows this is not a real party. But it symbolises real change. Those who have been to the fictional land not that far away, with gateways guarded by giant statues of Pharaohs and where a man named Musa (Moses) is the face of its modern day resistance movement will understand the significance of Chambaili. Falakabad comes with a ruling class, a package deal of tyrants and their inept progenies, its institutions in need of immediate rebooting and the landscape marred by a dreadful state of status quo. The oppressed occupants of this Godforsaken land count the days when ...

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...