Introduction

Holder of a bachelor's degree in Economics and master's degree in Social Planning, both from the London School of Economics, Raza Ahmad Rumi is a columnist, policy analyst and journalist. His writings are published in Foreign

Raza Ahmad Rumi


Professional Achievements

Holder of a bachelor's degree in Economics and master's degree in Social Planning, both from the London School of Economics, Raza Ahmad Rumi is a columnist, policy analyst and journalist. His writings are published in Foreign Policy, Huffington Post, New York Times, The Diplomat, Fair Observer, CNN and Al Jazeera, Daily O, Scroll India, The Hindu and Indian Express and Express Tribune.

Raza started his career in the Government of Pakistan as an officer of the administrative services. He was Assistant Commissioner, sub divisional magistrate in Murree. In 2000, he was selected by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo as a Civil Affairs Officer and for other municipal administration assignments. In 2002, Raza joined the Asian Development Bank as a Governance Specialist.

In 2008, Raza Rumi returned to Pakistan on a sabbatical and joined the ‘The Friday Times’ as a features editor. Shortly, he was also given the charge of news desk. He was the news and features editor of the publication for a few years. He is still on the editorial board of ‘The Friday Times’ and works as the consulting / commissioning editor.

Since 2010, Raza has been a regular commentator on television. In 2013, he started hosting a current affairs talk show on Capital TV entitled ‘Seedhi Baat’. In January 2014, he joined Express News where he was hosting a current affairs show ‘Khabar Sey Agay’. In 2012, Rumi became director of the Jinnah Institute, a policy think tank.

On 28 March 2014, Raza Rumi was attacked by a group of assailants reportedly members of the Taliban-affiliate Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) for his anti LeJ views. Raza survived the attack, but his driver was killed. On this incident, the former director of Human Rights Watch wrote: ‘Miraculously, he emerged unscathed from the hail of gunfire intended for him.

Raza is now in a secure location, outside Pakistan. He had no choice but to leave as the authorities felt no embarrassment in letting him know that they could not guarantee his life if he stepped outside his Lahore home. Some weeks later, the police caught would be assassins who belong to the dreaded Taliban-affiliate Lahkar-e-Jhangvi. But police custody curtails neither the power of these terrorists nor the impunity with which they kill.

Raza Rumi is now working as a scholar in residence at Ithaca College, USA, where he teaches at the Honours Programme. Earlier, he was a fellow at New America Foundation (2014); United States Institute of Peace (Sept 2014-March 2015) and a visiting fellow at National Endowment for Democracy. He continues to be the consulting editor for weekly ‘The Friday Times’, and a senior fellow at the Jinnah Institute in Islamabad.