Plain Talk - South Asia: Recent Episodes
European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS)
Let’s talk South Asia! In this podcast presented by EFSAS, we listen to the stories and views of scholars, academics, politicians, human rights activists, diplomats and creative thinkers who work in the political and security context of South Asia and beyond. They help to achieve a better understanding and conceive new ideas vis-à-vis the challenges in the region and thereby contribute to sustainable solutions to conflicts while facilitating an atmosphere of reconciliation, peace and tranquillity.
In this Interview held at EFSAS Office in Amsterdam, Burzine Waghmar of SOAS South Asia Institute and Former Inaugural Visiting India Fellow at RUSI-London discussed at length the historical context of partition in 1947 and where India and Pakistan stand at 75. According to Mr. Waghmar, the true reason for the different trajectories of the countries was largely due to their different leadership. Jawaharlal Nehru always had a vision for India, which included land reforms, industrialization and increasing education levels throughout the country. By contrast, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was entirely focused on accomplishing an independent Pakistan, and lacked a grander vision for the country’s future.
Mr. Tariq Shah is a Constitutional and Human Rights Advocate at the Peshawar High Court in Pakistan, and Secretary for Youth Affairs of the Awami National Party in Pakistan. In this interview, Mr. Shah stressed that under international law, Afghan refugees cannot be forcefully repatriated. He also highlighted that the Pakistani authorities have received funds from the United Nations in order to take care of these refugees, and the caretaker government, under Pakistani law, has no mandate to make such a decision, because the Parliament is not in session. As a lawyer, Mr. Shah considers the new reform illegal, and calls it “a clear violation of international law”.
During the 54th Session of the UNHRC in Geneva, EFSAS Director, Mr. Junaid Qureshi had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Dolkun Isa, the current president of the World Uyghur Congress. Mr. Dolkun Isa, originally from Aksu province, started campaigning against the Chinese State's policy of ethnic discrimination towards the Uyghur community during his studies at the physics faculty of Xinjiang University. During this period, he organized several demonstrations attended by thousands of students. As a result, he was interrogated, placed under house arrest for four months and expelled from the university. He was forced to flee to Turkey in May 1994. After two years in Turkey, he sought political asylum in Germany. He was elected President of the World Uyghur Congress at the 6th Extraordinary Congress in November 2017. He is also the Vice President of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. Since 2003, he has been on a Chinese list of wanted terrorists. In this Interview, Mr. Isa talked at length about Chinese repression policy against the Uyghur community and said that it constitutes genocide.
Professor Briskey is currently Associate Professor of Criminology at the school of Law & Criminology at Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. In a previous career appointment in the Federal Government, he undertook long term postings to a number of Australian Embassies and High Commissions including Pakistan where he lived for a number of years as well as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Professor Briskey holds a PhD from the Australian Defence Force Academy as well as a Masters of Strategic Affairs Degree, and a Graduate Diploma in Islamic studies. In this Interview he discussed in depth the 'Strategic culture' of the Pakistani Army based on its beliefs of Muslim Identity, Martial Race and enmity with India. Professor Briskey outlined that, in order to support these ideas, the Pakistanis have adopted a very particular view of their own history.
Mr. Khattak is the Managing Editor of Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty’s Pashto language Mashaal Radio in Prague. He previously worked for Pakistani English-language newspapers, covering Pakistan’s and the Taliban's military operations in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border regions, as part of the global war on terrorism. Mr. Khattak also worked in Kabul as English service editor for Afghanistan’s first independence news agency. Among the various papers published by Mr. Khattak, there is “The Genesis of Taliban emergence in Swat '' for the US think tank The New America Foundation. His articles and research papers on Taliban, terrorism, and politics in Pakistan have been published in various publications such as the CTC (Combating Terrorism Center) Sentinel, the American Interest, the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, and the Sunday Times in London. In this interview, he discussed in depth the political and economic crises in Pakistan, as well as the roles of the Military Establishment, Terrorist Organisations, Politicians and the effect of these forces on the Human Rights of the people of Pakistan.
On the newest episode of ‘Plain Talk: South Asia’, EFSAS Director Junaid Qureshi had the pleasure to interview Mr. Marc Finaud. Mr. Finaud is a former French diplomat who had been seconded to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and worked there until 2022 to train diplomats and military officers in arms control, international and human security, while conducting research in those fields. During his 36-year career as a diplomat (from 1977 to 2013), he served in several bilateral postings (in the Soviet Union, Poland, Israel, Australia) as well as in multilateral missions (to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Conference on Disarmament, the United Nations). He was also Senior Resident Fellow (WMD Programme) at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) between 2013 and 2015. He remains associated with GCSP as a Senior Advisor and Fellow. In this Interview, Mr. Finaud focused on Nuclear Security in South Asia.
On the newest episode of ‘EFSAS Plain Talk: South Asia’, EFSAS Director Junaid Qureshi had the opportunity to interview Mr. Timothy Foxley. Mr. Foxley is one of EFSAS’ Research Fellows as well as an independent consultant specialising in political/military analysis and research. He worked for the British government as a Defence Analyst from 1992 to 2014. He has studied Afghanistan, the region, and associated conflict themes, since 2001, much of this time at the UK Ministry of Defence as a Senior Analyst, where he received the MBE in 2005 for his Afghan work. He has also worked for the Swedish Ministry of Defence and at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). In this Interview, Mr. Foxley focused on the regional and global impacts of the situation in Afghanistan while elaborating that the ‘Great Game’ has not ended while perhaps only the players have changed.
In an exclusive interview held by EFSAS, part of the series 'Plain Talk; South Asia', Mr. Junaid Qureshi, Director EFSAS, had the privilege of interviewing Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistani nuclear physicist and activist who served as Professor of physics and mathematics at the Forman Christian College-University in Lahore, and previously taught physics at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore and the Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad. Professor Hoodbhoy is also a prominent activist, in particular concerned with promotion of freedom of speech, secularism, scientific temper and education in Pakistan. During the interview, Professor Hoodbhoy discussed the education system in Pakistan, the role of the Pakistani Military in political engineering in the country, Terrorism, Indo-Pak Relations, the Jammu & Kashmir issue and the deteriorating political and economic situation in Pakistan.
In an exclusive interview held at EFSAS office in Amsterdam, part of the series 'Plain Talk; South Asia', Mr. Junaid Qureshi, Director EFSAS, interviewed Ms. Peymana Assad Councillor for Roxeth, South Harrow on the London Borough of Harrow Council and the first Afghan-origin elected to public office the UK. During the interview, Ms. Assad thoroughly discussed the current political situation in Afghanistan and the possible outcomes. She also elaborated on the role of the role of the Pakistani Military Establishment, India, China and the West.
In an exclusive interview, part of the series 'Plain Talk; South Asia', Mr. Junaid Qureshi, Director EFSAS, interviewed the award-wining Pakistani journalist Taha Siddiqui. Mr. Siddiqui has worked as a journalist for France24, The Guardian, NY Times and other international news outlets. Recently, he published his latest graphic novel, titled ‘The Dissident Club’. In this interview, Mr. Siddiqui, delved into his career as a journalist in Pakistan and described in-depth the intimidations and harassments he had to endure for expressing his views and for openly criticizing the military regime and governance of the country, because of which he eventually had to flee as his life was in danger because of his work.
In the newest episode of ‘Plain Talk: South
Asia’, EFSAS welcomed Dr. Juncal
Fernández-Garayzabal to discuss the challenges linked with terrorism and
radicalization in the Maldives. Dr. Fernández-Garayzabal is Program Manager at
the Counter Extremism Project and Co-founder of Parallel Networks (PN), a
non-profit organization dedicated to combating polarization, hate, and
extremism. Dr. Fernández-Garayzabal initially highlighted that terrorism in the
Maldives is not a new phenomenon. The election of the first democratic
government in 2008 influenced Maldivian society in various ways, including by
creating a growing space for religious expression, which allowed for the
emergence of more radical voices in the public sphere. After 2013, the Maldives
emerged as the country with the highest per capita rate of foreign fighters
(FFs) joining the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Currently, 1400
Maldivians are believed to be willing to die for their religious ideology. She
outlined that the emergence of radical sentiments is heavily influenced by
teachings from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, where many Maldivians went to receive
an Islamic education.
In another episode of ‘Plain Talk: South Asia’, EFSAS welcomed virtually Ms. Myra MacDonald, journalist, author and former Reuters Bureau Chief in India. Ms. MacDonald is an expert on South Asian politics and security, having written numerous books on Indo-Pak relations, including the Jammu & Kashmir conflict.
In the latest episode of EFSAS’ monthly Interviews with interesting personalities, Mr. Junaid Qureshi (Director EFSAS) welcomed virtually Dr. Said Alam Mahsud. Dr. Mahsud is a surgeon, political activist, and one of the leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). He is also the Chairman of the civil society organisation Pashtunkhwa Ulasi Tehrik, and a technical expert on China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Dr. Mahsud analyzed in detail the multibillion-dollar venture and explained how the people from the regions, where the project is concentrated, namely Balochistan, Sindh, the Pashtun Belt and Pakistan Administered Jammu & Kashmir, were also the ones who were most deprived from its boons.
Mr Qureshi talks to Mr Fazal Khan about state-funded terrorism, the PTM and the reason behind his advocacy for victims of terrorist attacks.
EFSAS interviewed Ms. Sanna Ejaz, a journalist and human rights activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan who is also a leading member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), as well as a founding member of the Waak Movement, which aims to bring political awareness among Pashtun women. She was formerly the vice-president of the youth wing of Awami National Party (ANP) and was fired in 2018 from her position at Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), Pakistan’s national broadcasting service, for her activism surrounding human rights and especially minority rights in Pakistan. Since then, she has survived three assassination attempts and now lives in London.
As part of EFSAS’ monthly feature of holding interviews with interesting personalities, EFSAS Director Mr. Junaid Qureshi interviewed Mr. Bashir Ahmad Gwakh, an award-winning journalist from Afghanistan. Mr. Gwakh is currently working at Radio Free Europe’s Mashaal Radio as a broadcaster, and prior to that he worked as news editor for NATO/ISAF newspaper, Azadey Ghag. Mr. Bashir Ahmad Gwakh spoke at length about the Taliban, TTP, ISKP, Pakistani Military establishment and the rapidly changing and challenging extremist landscape in South Asia.
In the latest series of EFSAS Interviews, Mr. Junaid Qureshi (Director EFSAS) discussed the situation in Myanmar with Dr. Matthew Walton, an Assistant Professor in Comparative Political Theory in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. Previously, he was the inaugural Aung San Suu Kyi Senior Research Fellow in Modern Burmese Studies at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford. His research focuses on religion and politics in Southeast Asia, with a special emphasis on Buddhism in Myanmar.
In the latest series of EFSAS interviews, Mr. Burzine Waghmar, EFSAS Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of Pakistan member at SOAS, Centre for Iranian Studies member at SOAS, and Visiting India Fellow at RUSI deliberated upon human rights and the political situation of the region of Balochistan and its significance for the rest of South Asia.
In the latest series of EFSAS interviews, Mr. Junaid Qureshi (Director EFSAS) welcomed virtually Professor Mick Moore, a highly regarded political economist and professorial fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. He is also the founding CEO of the International Centre for Tax and Development and was appointed as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2021 for his services to international development. Moore has conducted field research in Asia and Africa, particularly Sri Lanka, India, and Taiwan, and has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has almost 50 years of experience in researching political and economic trends in Sri Lanka. In his interview with Mr. Qureshi, Moore deliberated upon the current political and economic landscape of Sri Lanka and its possible trajectories of development.
EFSAS held a very interesting interview of Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, the current Senior Director at the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a transatlantic think tank with offices in Berlin, London, and New York. Just before the 9/11 attacks in 2001, he joined an Al Qaeda-focused work group of the German government, a role in which he remained until 2005, when he was posted to Iran as a liaison for the Iranian armed forces. In 2011, he entered the private sector as an advisor on sanctions before joining the Al Qaeda, ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), and Afghan Taliban monitoring team at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). In this interview, Dr. Schindler spoke at length about the situation in Afghanistan, the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, role of the Pakistani Military Establishment, China and the wider ramifications of a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan for the region of South Asia.
In EFSAS’ most recent interview, the organization’s Director, Mr. Junaid Qureshi, interviewed Ms. Nargis Nehan, Afghanistan’s former Minister of Mines and Petroleum, who now lives in Norway as a political refugee. Ms. Nehan remains actively engaged in developing solutions to the political quagmire Afghanistan finds itself in. She was invited to the recent talks between Western and Taliban officials held in Oslo but refused to attend on the grounds that the Taliban never really bought into political negotiations in the past. Based on this assessment, Ms. Nehan outlined that she did not oppose negotiations with the Taliban per se but that talks should be held based on the Taliban fulfilling predetermined conditions. Ms. Nehan argued that extrajudicial killings and incarcerations had once again become pervasive. The hope that pressure from the international community would produce a more moderate form of the Taliban has turned out to be futile. Regarding the Taliban’s treatment of women, she highlighted that violence against women was present outside of the ranks of the Taliban as well and that the Taliban in particular was shaped by a lack of exposure to empowered women, a normalization of violence following decades of civil war that has isolated Afghanistan from female rights gains elsewhere, and the patriarchal norms that continue to shape Afghan society. Anxious to not lose control over Afghanistan, the contemporary Taliban has not formalized the oppression of girls and women as it did between 1996 and 2001, also in order to project a more positive image to the international community.
Mr. Junaid Qureshi, Director EFSAS, hosted a very interesting interview of Professor Matthew McCartney, who has twenty years of experience as a development economics scholar at the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS), University of London (2000-2011), and the University of Oxford (2011-21), and currently works for the Washington-based Charter Cities Institute. The interview focused on various issues related to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in general and its flagship project, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), in particular. Turning towards his new book https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/dragon-from-the-mountains/90AB5FED65A409F5ACCAB5BC92C68555 (‘The Dragon from the Mountains: The CPEC from Kashgar to Gwadar’), Professor McCartney outlined that his work focused on the long-term economic development impact the CPEC would have on Pakistan, specifically in regard to the expansion of road and railway networks. He noted that his book had an ultimately macroeconomic focus, thus paying less heed to CPEC’s geopolitical dimensions, which to him are equally important.
EFSAS hosted a very vibrant and engaging interview with Dr. Dorotheé Vandamme, Lecturer at Université Catholic de Louvain, Research assistant at the Centre for the Study of Crises and International Conflicts, Research Fellow at the Genesys Network and Research Fellow at EFSAS. Dr. Vandamme's work focuses on Pakistan and the evolving South Asian regional context, with an emphasis on international social dynamics, and the interconnections between global and local levels. In the interview, Dr. Vandamme argued that understanding Pakistan foremost means understanding the Pakistani Military. For Dr. Vandamme, a particular research interest is how Pakistanis tend to define their identity as non-Indian, and from that starting point, make sense of the country and the world as a whole, noting that there are significant generational divides in these perceptions. During the interview, issues like Afghanistan, the Taliban, the Pakistani Military Establishment and relations with India were discussed elaborately.
EFSAS held a very stimulating and interesting interview with Mr. Afrasiab Khattak, a Pakistani politician, former Senator and former Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Pashtun rights activist, and a senior leader of the National Democratic Movement. Mr. Khattak discussed a range of issues including Afghan identity, role of Pakistani Military Establishment in Afghanistan, Pakistan's relations with India and the hybrid political system in Pakistan in which the parliamentary democracy of the country remains heavily influenced by the Pakistani military establishment and its intelligence agencies.
EFSAS director Mr. Junaid Qureshi sat down with Mr. Malaiz Daud, former Chief of Staff under Afghanistan's ex-President Ashraf Ghani, to discuss the Taliban takeover, consequences for regional security and the future of Afghanistan.