Pak Affairs

The election of Republican Party candidate, Donald J. Trump, as the 45th President of the United States, gave birth to apprehensions that he would be disastrous for the Muslim world in general and Pakistan in particular. Pakistan has been fighting the US-led global war on terror since 2001 as a frontline state. However, for the last decade and a half, …

Without any incertitude, women are the most marginalized and discriminated gender in our society. They are often insecure and vulnerable to oppression at the hands of men. Every time a woman steps out of her home, she is weak and diffident; be it schools, workplaces or any other public space, a feeling of inferiority that surrounds most women goads them …

There is a dire need to examine the shifting conceptualizations of womanhood and ideologies of gendered bourgeois identity as they emerged among South Asian Muslims during the 19th century. These discourses were located within a large social context of the gradual erosion of feudal tradition, along with the exigencies of capitalist markets, and the emergence of a new middle class …

India has long dreamed of becoming a regional hegemon in South Asia. With an aim to achieve preponderance, New Delhi has employed both soft and hard power in order to bring all the peripheral South Asian states under its military and economic tentacles. For India, economically- and militarily-rising Pakistan continues to pose a significant threat to its ambitions. “India has …

Local bodies are basic building blocks of governance. Being closest and easily approachable to the common man, these bodies are widely considered the ultimate governance instrument for solving most basic problems, addressing small-scale development needs and community welfare, hence infusing in the masses a sense of ownership for these bodies. For effective, efficient and representative local governance, local government elections …

Background Article 140-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, was added through the Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment in 2010. The constitutional provision provided for three aspects related to the local government: a. It established the local government system within the constitutional framework of Pakistan; b. It provided for devolving of the ‘political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected …

Every now and then something happens that highlights the precarious situation in which the non-Muslim religious minorities are living in Pakistan. However, the gloss on the issues of religious minorities proves to be fleeting in nature. The pattern that has emerged from a number of recent incidents is that the government’s interest stays alive in such cases as long as …

Pakistan’s high vulnerability to adverse impacts of climate change, in particular of extreme climatic events, means that the country is in dire need of innovative mitigation and adaptation technologies to effectively manage recurring natural disasters triggering climate change as well as rapidly increasing levels of GHG emissions so as to lessen the damage to life, property, natural ecosystems and economy …

On January 13, the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) released its 2017 World Employment and Social Outlook report according to which global unemployment is expected to rise by 3.4 million. The increase, while a modest 5.7 to 5.8%, is due to deteriorating labour market conditions in emerging countries, particularly those in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the case …

“Water is not only for life … water is life.” Themed as ‘Water and Sustainable Development’, March 22nd this year marks the World Water Day that is celebrated every year under the banner of the UN-Water. The day serves as an opportunity to highlight the importance of water at the heart of sustainable development. Given the scarce water resources in …