Raza Ahmad Rumi, Pakistani policy analyst, journalist, academic and author, says ‘Ideals aside, only Pakistan Army and India’s Right-wing are capable of giving their consent to a resolution of the conflict between India and Pakistan.’
In conversation with Pervaiz Alam, Raza Rumi says there are critical issues, much severe than sabre-rattling, staring at both countries, climate change and water shortages being two of them.
Raza Ahmed Rumi also talks about the day when he narrowly survived an assassination attempt that claimed the life of his driver in the city of Lahore. He was attacked by a group of assailants reportedly members of the Taliban-affiliate, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi for his liberal and anti-extremism views. Thereafter, he moved to the United States.
Raza Rumi is Director, Park Center for Independent Media and teaches in the journalism department. Raza is also Visiting Faculty at Cornell Institute for Public Affairs.
As a journalist, Raza is affiliated with the Daily Times (Pakistan). Earlier he worked with The Friday Times, Pakistan’s foremost liberal weekly paper as a writer and an editor for a decade. Raza is also a commentator for several publications which include Foreign Policy, Huffington Post, New York Times, The Diplomat, Fair Observer, CNN and Al Jazeera, Daily O, Scroll India, The Hindu and Indian Express, The News, DAWN and Express Tribune, Pakistan. In Pakistan, he also worked in the broadcast media as an analyst and hosted talk shows at Capital TV and Express News. Raza was also a Director at Jinnah Institute, a public policy think tank and Executive Director of Justice Network- a coalition of NGOs.
Prior to his foray into journalism and public affairs, Raza worked at the Asian Development Bank as a Governance Specialist.
Raza’s work as a public policy practitioner builds on his stint with the Government of Pakistan’s Administrative Service and United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo where he acted as a municipal administrator in charge of local governance. In 1994, he entered the Pakistani civil service after topping the countrywide competitive examination. He holds a bachelors and masters degree from London School of Economics.
Books: Rethinking Pakistan: A 21st Century Perspective (Bilal Zahoor with Raza Rumi, 2019) published by Folio, Delhi by Heart: Impressions of a Pakistani Traveller, The Fractious Path: Pakistan’s Democratic Transition and Identity and Faith and Conflict. Being Pakistani: Society Culture and the Arts was published in June 2018 by Harper Collins, India.
This interview with Raza Ahmed Rumi was recorded on 2 June, 2019, as part of Cine Ink’s coverage of the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival at King’s College in London.
Add comment