Afrah Jamal

Originally Published by Global Affairs / May 2017. Written before the Mashal Khan tragedy in Mardan A terrifying document surfaced the other day on the social media that suggested a possibly extremist agenda in the education department in KPK - Pakistan . The letter dated 2015, ostensibly from Pervez Khattak directed DCTE Abbottabad to seek input from proscribed groups - the ASWJ for devising the curriculum. It was an alarming discovery and the comments that followed on the twitter timeline of the social activist who shared the story were even more alarming for they appeared to support making terror outfits stakeholders in the academia. In a different part of town a few good Samaritans put forward a timely proposal that promised salvation for young Pakistani’s at the mercy of the hardliner’s pen. Representatives from 7 organizations presented a pilot project launched to defuse the ticking time bomb of bigotry and hate. They dubbed it - ‘ Badal Do’ – ‘Ignite the Change With...

Published by National Herald Tribune March 2017 A 20 point National Action Plan devised in January 2015 identified key issues that needed to be resolved on an urgent basis. It looked perfect on paper and ceded space to military courts; kick-started the process of refugee reparation; proposed actions against banned organizations and recommended the registration of seminaries. The proposal though ambitious appeared to be well crafted and would ultimately become the cornerstone of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Its implementation however left a lot to be desired. NAP was supposed to bring sweeping reforms in the realm of education, criminal justice, religious seminaries, FATA; have zero tolerance for militancy in Punjab, strengthen NACTA - National Counter Terrorism Authority and fortify the security parameters . It led to a marked improvement in Karachi’s security. Fencing was considered along the Western front despite resistance by the neighbors. And the moratorium was lifted on death ...

Published in Lead Pakistan / Feb 2017 Pakistan and Afghanistan find themselves at crossroads. Pakistanis can rattle off all the reasons they think they have qualified for Afghanistan’s gratitude starting from their help in liberating them from the Soviet occupation to hosting millions of displaced Afghans and training their security forces to name but a few. Their Afghan neighbors on the other hand keep a list of grievances nearby to trump any grand gestures made in the past 4 decades. Their relations may have soured over time but there are avenues of cooperation left open that can be explored. Overtures made by Pakistani State lately testify to their attempts at mending fences and the reciprocal moves by their Afghan counterparts may signal that peace and reconciliation may still be on the table. Pak COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa’s New Year phone call to Afghan leadership and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s invitation to visit make these important milestones. That momentum must not be ...

Published Global Affairs / Jan 2017 A Pakistani theatre play offered some gallows humor where it peered into the future and foresaw the end of the Siachen conflict that will only be brought on by global warming when the glaciers melt and the currents take them all the way to Delhi & Islamabad respectively. And in that post apocalyptical scenario, the Capital’s famed Metro bus would be swapped for a Metro boat. Siachen is yet another arena of disagreement between India and Pakistan. Both nations are currently engaged in what started as a low intensity conflict at the LOC (Line of Control) amid accusations of cross border terrorism and attacks on military installations. And they have many others to fall back upon when things cool down at the border. This particular argument stems from the manner in which the demarcation of the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan took place post Partition that had indicated the area beyond NJ 9842 (coordinates) as ‘thence north to the gl...