About me

I know, I know you are tired of the old fashioned bureaucratic introductions so sod them. In this profile you won’t read third person talk that Mr Farrukh has been to the moon this many times or that he was born in this war zone not that. O Lord, no. I am submitting to the court of your opinion, fully accountable for all my thoughts and action with the request for nothing but a little compassion.
There is only one word that defines me the best: REBEL. Yes, I am a rebel, though not in the way Albert Camus had envisaged. I am a much docile rebel. Since my early childhood I have refused to accept the moulds offered by others for my identity. Every momentous decision in my life was taken by me and I am strong enough to know how often I grow weak because of such an arbitrary course of action. But what are mistakes if we do not learn from them and what is life if we live only to regret.

Politically speaking I am a nationalist, a Pakistani nationalist. If my outlook is to be gauged I am a thorough liberal. I am a proud progressive Muslim and Pakistani, but if you say that democracy, constitutionalism, fundamental rights including freedom of expression and imagination are in any case in conflict with my faith or nationhood I’ll have to doubt your mental state, so kindly do not put me through this disgusting ordeal. I believe in absolute pluralism and tolerance. But for dictatorship, parochialism obscurantism and supremacism I have no place in my life.

I am currently working as a television talk show host and senior analyst for a rather new channel NewsOne TV. Yet I have retained my profile as an independent senior columnist out of sheer habit of writing. Since I am quite an opinionated person the views expressed on my site or in my columns should not be construed as that of my employers even though in positive things I might have taken an inspiration from them.

My experience includes political campaign development & management, media counselling for political parties, campaign finance issues, assisting civil society organizations in media related issues, opinion and analyses, television production, print media editing, web content management, foreign policy and defence correspondence, advocacy and input. You can view or download my resume in word format from here and in pdf format will be available here soon (which has not been updated for an year or so. But please note that it will be done soon). I have ten years of experience as a columnist and in year 2002 I committed the mistake of directing the nationwide election campaign of the newly formed religious political alliance (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal – MMA). I say a mistake not because it was either less instructive or less successful. O hell, no. I had joined purely on professional basis and I daresay the success was so enormous that those who had hired me were taken by a surprise. The reason why I repent is that I started learning their true colours after the success as they unleashed their obscurantist agenda totally antithetical to my worldview. Since then I have vowed never to enter the political mess again.

But that is what I do. Who am I in any case? In years a lot of my friends have asked me what is this ‘Pitafi’? Well Pitafi is a sub-tribe of the Baloch. We are scattered all over the country with concentration in Sindh and Southern Punjab. My family lands are located in District Muzaffargarh near Tehsil Jatoi. My father, Late Lt Col Naseem A K Pitafi, as evident from the title, was an army officer. It was him from whom I inherited patriotism, love for reason and slight knack at writing. I have two siblings, an elder sister and an elder brother, both married to lovely spouses and have three children each.
Until recently I was unmarried. I tied the knot and consequently lost my liberty in January 2006. It is a lurrve marriage and our beloved daughter Oxana was born on January 10 2007. My wife Beenish Farrukh is a former colleague who lost her parents in a road accident when she was hardly four. Her guardian and paternal uncle is my father’s course mate in army. She has an unmarried sister and a lot of interesting relatives.

As for me, I was born on 9th July 1976. I have some taste for books, movies and music. There is really a long list of authors, producer and actors, singers and such things which you’ll find mentioned in my favourites section eventually. I fancy tea, swimming, cigars, writing and golf. I have uncountable well-placed friends and believe me despite being … ahem… very well connected I have never taken benefit of any friend thus far.

As for my professional ambitions and plans I dream of owning my own media empire one day. For the immediate plan I may like my columns to get syndicated and I am still in process of writing an English novel, an Urdu play and collecting an anthology of my own short stories. FKP

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