A Pakistan administered Kashmir police officer, Irfan Masood Kashfi, has been chosen for a senior position in the United Nation’s largest peacekeeping mission, the AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur, Sudan.
The prestigious position was advertised by the UN in October last year, and every member country had nominated four to six officers for the slot.
From amongst all, 43-year old Kashfi, currently deputy inspector general PaK Reserves/Rangers Police, was selected for it, after a selection process spanning eight months.
“IrfanKashfi has been found as the most suitable candidate for the appointment on secondment for the post of FPU Coordinator in the African Union/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur,” read a letter written by the UN Secretariat to Pakistan’s Permanent Mission.
Kashfi is most likely to join his new assignment within a month, following completion of the procedural requirements.
After earning Master of Public Administration degree from the Virtual University of Pakistan, Kashfi had joined PaK Police Service in 2003 after topping the region’s competitive examination.
During his career, he has served on a number of command and staff appointments, including district police chief of three districts and Principal Staff Officer to the PaK Prime Minister before his promotion as DIG in BS-20 in August 2015.
In 2012-13, he had also served on secondment with the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and was awarded with UN Police Medal and Commendation Certificate by the Mission leadership for his outstanding professional contributions in the service of international peace.
Speaking about his upcoming responsibility, Kashfi told Greater Kashmir that though UN peacekeeping was a tough but gratifying job, ideal for professionals from diverse backgrounds.
“Having had a truly enriching experience with the UN Mission in Liberia, I look forward to undergoing an enhanced stint five years down the road in a truly professional, diverse and cosmopolitan UN work environment,” he said.
Kashfi comes from a scholarly family, with its roots in Bandipora area of Jammu and Kashmir.
His grandfather Mir Ghulam Ahmed Kashfi was a renowned author, journalist, poet, educationist as well as a pro-freedom activist who had migrated to Pakistan in 1949 along with his spouse and six children.
His father Mir Masood Kashfi was an ace broadcaster who had overzealously enhanced the capacity and listenership of Radio Muzaffarabad after the ongoing armed resistance movement was launched by the Kashmiris across the Line of Control.
He had retired as deputy controller in 2000, two years before his death.
His uncle Mir Bashir Ahmed Sultan is associated with Pakistan’s oldest Urdu centre right daily Nawaiwaqt, while another uncle, late Mir Saeed Ahmed Sultan, was also a freelance journalist.
One of his siblings, Imran Masood Kashfi, is a brigadier in Pakistan army.