Muhammad Zahid Rifat
DR Tehmina Aslam Ranjha is woman par excellence with great substance. She is an expert on Counter-Terrorism, Countering Violent Extremism and Deradicalisation in Pakistan.
Dr Tehmina Aslm Ranjha is a woman who has been actively working on making society a violence free society. Talking about her cherished desire, she says it is her dream to see a day in Pakistan when country will be violence-free and there will be no incident of terrorism and extremism here.
She is among a very few Pakistani women who are working on sensitive topics like Countering Violent Extremism and De-radicalisation.
For this, she has been actively doing her part by educating students on behavioural change from violence to deradicalisation and from extremist tendencies to moderate behaviour’s an expert on counter-terrorism, she mostly works on Countering Violent Extremism in colleges and university campuses.
She is working in the arena of Counter-Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism with a focus on deradicalization among the youth of Pakistan for the last more than four years.
Through her writings, she is making commendable contribution towards helping establish a Countering Violent Extremism narrative of Pakistan.
She is also an animal lover and believes that the love for animals makes your heart a tender one and ultimately makes you to be kind and loving towards the animals.
She has been taking care of stray cats and dogs. In order to acknowledge her services as animals rights activist, DW TV has recently made a documentary on her to show the positive face of Pakistan.
Dr Tehmina is also one of the members of “Dukhtaran-e-Pakistan” , a special section of Paigham-e-Pakistan to counter violent extremism from the society and especially women’s role in countering violent extremism.
She has a very distinguished academic record from graduation to doctorate. She did graduation from the Punjab University with subjects of English Literature, Journalism, Persian and Social work, Msc (International Relations) From the Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad with focus on Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Disarmament, M.A. History from University of Sargodha, MPhil Political Science from Government College University Lahore on Water Dispute between India and Pakistan: Implications for South Asian Security and Doctorate of Philosophy in Political Science with thesis on “Religious Militancy in Pakistan: Effects on Foreign Policy Towards India and Afghanistan” also from the Punjab University, all with distinction.
She is a national speaker on topics related to Countering Violent Extremism and de-radicalisation. She has contributed number of research articles in national journals and international conference and also writes for Pakistan’s print media. She has attended several seminars as a speaker and delivered lectures on issues like Kashmir, terrorism, extremism, deradicalisation and Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts. She has also worked closely with retired personnel of Pakistan Army, Police and reviewed articles for NACTA.
She imparts training and delivers lectures on different aspects of terrorism, extremism and victims of terrorism to academia, govt officials, journalists and security practitioners.
Dr Tehmina Aslam Ranjha is currently a US-based think tank Wikistrat and regularly contributes for them.
She has made it possible the collaboration of various NGOs associated with government institutions to conduct various research projects which have proved beneficial for both the faculty as well as the students of Department of Integrated Social Sciences. She is also member of various committees of academic nature at the University of Lahore. Recently, she has been involved in imparting training to the students of University of Swat and Swabi, a joint project of UNDP Pakistan and Interior Ministry.
She is also a linguist and can Read and Write in seven languages including English, Urdu, Punjabi, Seraiki, Hindko, Arabic, Persian and Hindi. Currently, she is Research Fellow at Centre for Security Strategy and Policy Research and Assistant Professor at School of Integrated Social Sciences, University of Lahore.
She is, however, also looking for greater and more important assignment commensurate with her expert specialization and high academic qualifications to serve with greater vigour and enthusiasm the country and the nation at national as well as international level.
—The writer is Lahore-based Freelance Journalist, Columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News), Radio Pakistan, Islamabad.
