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Collective memories are shared past events that are communicated to people who may not have been present at the time. It is up to the media to decide how and when to transmit shared memories, as they play a crucial part in this process. When a peaceful resolution is taking place, memory as a reminder of the prior dispute or the use of conflicting memory during conflict are both determined to be significant factors. Memory and conflict are said to go hand in hand, so when the media links violence and conflict with previous events of the same kind, it attempts to resurrect the bitter experiences that individuals may or may not have had in the past. Bringing previous experiences to the forefront makes it difficult for people to think favourably or positively about a peaceful resolution of the conflict. This study investigates the use of conflicting collective memories in mainstream media representations of TTP talks with the Pakistani government. As a supplement, PJ was used in conjunction with CDA. The findings show that during the chosen time period, agonizing memories of the past were used as a context for new or recent events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 2018, a spontaneous march of young men from the region of Waziristan descended upon the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, dramatically exploding the myths about the so-called war on terror in the "tribal" border zone with Afghanistan. This organic mobilisation became the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a civil rights uprising embodying the repressed rage of a generation of Pashtun youth that had come of age in the shadow of violence propagated by the unholy nexus of US drones, the Taliban and Pakistan's security establishment. In this commentary, the PTM's emergence as a response to the brutalisation of Pashtun society on what remains a colonial frontier hundreds of years since the British conquest is counterposed to a right-wing populist upsurge led by current Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose primary constituency of support is a myopic middle-class strata in metropolitan areas. This confrontation between left and right populisms reveals growing social polarisation under the backdrop of rapid demographic change in a rentier state dominated by an all-powerful military establishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that at its core, the debate on the role and place of Islam in Pakistan, is constitutional. The issues concerning Islamic law, the raison d'être of the state, defining the nation and mapping the locus of sovereignty are of constitutional import and concern. At the same time, the recognition of Islam has been critical to the legitimacy of Pakistani constitutions. However, the political structures and institutions prescribed to make Pakistan the Islamic republic it set out to become on independence have stopped short of achieving this. This article suggests that this failure has fuelled religious conflict and created tension, instability and division in the country. In failing to provide formal mechanisms and channels to uphold and activate Islamic principles enshrined in them, the constitutions have remained a focus for agitation and dissent. The constitutional ratification of Islam and Islamic governance ostensibly remains the demand of Islamist parties and Islamic militants alike. For the Islamists, the demand is generally not for a new constitution but for the reform of the existing one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Pakistan's search for a model of political economy capable of meeting the national objectives of industrialisation and accumulation of sufficient military power to deter India. It contends that the period of promise (1950s and 1960s) was made possible through heavy subsidies drawn from East Pakistan and the West. The resultant hubris blinded Pakistan's rulers to growing discontent in the eastern wing of the country while encouraging them to take serious strategic risks against India. The unravelling of this strategy plunged Pakistan into a permanent crisis of its national political economy characterised by underdevelopment, internal and external fiscal imbalances, and a failure to mobilise national resources on a scale commensurate with its national goals. Experiments with socialism (1970s) and neo-classical economics-inspired structural adjustments (since the 1980s) have failed to deliver the desired outcomes and, in fact, entrenched Pakistan's crisis of political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how counterterrorism targeting terrorist leaders affects terrorist attacks. This effect is theoretically ambiguous and depends on whether terrorist groups are modeled as unitary actors or not. The paper exploits a natural experiment provided by strikes by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones) "hitting" and "missing" terrorist leaders in Pakistan. Results suggest that terrorist groups increase the number of attacks they commit after a drone "hit" on their leader compared with after a "miss." This increase is statistically significant for 3 out of 6 months after a hit, when it ranges between 47.7% and 70.3%. Additional analysis of heterogenous effects across groups and leaders, and the impact of drone hits on the type of attack, terrorist group infighting, and splintering, suggest that principal-agent problems—(new) terrorist leaders struggling to control and discipline their operatives—account for these results better than alternative theoretical explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urdu digests have a long history in Pakistan, and their contents include detective tales, science fiction, and love stories. The horror genre--found for example in magazines such as Khaufnak Digest, Sacci Kahani, or Dar Digest--is particularly intriguing, as the fantastic and the uncanny yield a canvas for stereotypes and ideologies. Horror stories are one way to represent what is evil in a society, as well as indicating which heroes are capable of countering these threatening influences. This article analyzes recent Urdu horror stories as they are found in the monthly magazine Dar Digest and reveals how these tales contribute to the villainization of Hindus in today's Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of social media in revolutionising the modus operandi of parliamentary business and in promoting public participation in decision making process. It provides examples of social media interaction from Pakistan and suggests that social media can be called a game changer in bridging the gap between Parliament and the people.

Despite official reports and widespread popular accounts of electoral fraud, manipulation, and violence in India and Pakistan, this topic has not been systematically addressed by the scholarly literature. This special issue explores how electoral malpractices are performed across a variety of settings (villages, small towns and cities) in criminalised political contexts. Our in-depth ethnographic studies of the electoral seasons show how fraud and manipulation of electoral processes are a diffuse and pervasive assemblage of practices, discourses and representations which shape and are shaped by local modes of governance and by the idea of free and fair elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article explores propaganda techniques and frames presented by US elite post 9/11 newspapers during three Pakistani political regimes i.e. General Pervez Musharraf, Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, for Pakistan. Editorials of The Washington Post and The New York Times were selected due to their inter-media agenda setting function. Quantitative content analysis of data (n- 274), through a census study showed that mostly negative propaganda techniques and frames were used to present Pakistan The political regime of General Pervez Musharraf received the most number of negative media frames. A statistically significant difference among political regimes and propaganda techniques was found through ANOVA and significant association was found between political regimes and media frames through Pearson Chi-Square. It is concluded that US elite media gives unconditional negative coverage to Pakistan no matter whose political regime is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is divided into three parts. The first part provides an overview of literature on the factors that restraint women's intellectual contribution in Pakistan's bureaucratic setup, specifically in the department of foreign affairs. The second part examines the root cause of sociocultural dilemmas that rule out the role of women in Pakistan's bureaucracy. The third part provides the argument that Pakistan's bureaucracy is not gender neutral and by consequence not Weberian (Evans and Rauch, 1999). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Although the first appointment of women judges in Pakistan dates back to 1974, a significant appointment of female judges from 2009 onward has caused a jump in female representation to more than one third in family courts: a quiet move during the tumultuous years of the so-called Chaudhry Court. The challenge in this scenario was whether this change would only be temporary or whether it would also lead to substantial and accountable inclusion. This paper adopts mixed methods to scrutinize the extent of the adherence to the principle of gender equality in the judiciary as per international treaties to which Pakistan is signatory. It starts by retracing the historical steps of the appointment of female judges in Pakistan and then investigates the everyday interactions and preoccupations of women judges in their daily management of justice. The findings elucidate how the global agenda impacts local expectations and conceptualizations of gender representation within and beyond the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the first appointment of women judges in Pakistan dates back to 1974, a significant appointment of female judges from 2009 onward has caused a jump in female representation to more than one third in family courts: a quiet move during the tumultuous years of the so-called Chaudhry Court. The challenge in this scenario was whether this change would only be temporary or whether it would also lead to substantial and accountable inclusion. This paper adopts mixed methods to scrutinize the extent of the adherence to the principle of gender equality in the judiciary as per international treaties to which Pakistan is signatory. It starts by retracing the historical steps of the appointment of female judges in Pakistan and then investigates the everyday interactions and preoccupations of women judges in their daily management of justice. The findings elucidate how the global agenda impacts local expectations and conceptualizations of gender representation within and beyond the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Directorate General of Inter Services Public Relations (DG-ISPR), or the Pakistan Army's media wing has perfected the form of subverting democracy and showcasing the dominant position of the Army in the entire Pakistani polity. This article sets out to prove the same in a quantified manner. By analysing almost 25 tweets from the official account of DG-ISPR in the period 2016 −18, the article tries to quantify, using the Merkel-Croissant model of embedded democracy, the priorities of the Pakistan Army. This article also provides a case analysis of some of the more controversial tweets and how DG-ISPR has succeeded in subverting Pakistani democratic institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the victory of Imran Khan in the presidential elections in Pakistan held on July 25, 2018. A brief profile of Khan is provided who is an anti-corruption crusader, philanthropist, and former cricket player. Topics include Pakistan's political system, the corruption scandal involving former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and procedural democracy.

Parliamentary elections in July 2018 brought the right-wing Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf, headed by former cricketer Imran Khan, to power. The PTI finished short of the 137 seats needed to form a government. But it emerged as the single largest party in parliament. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for owning assets disproportionate to his income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On women issues, the response of democratically elected governments of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), remained vague and non-committal. Both parties in their manifestos for general elections, vowed to take steps for women socio-economic and political empowerment. However, after assuming power, these parties could not fullfill their promises. They could neither enact appropriate legislation on women issues nor they repealed or amended gender discriminatory Hudood Ordinance of Zia-ul-Haq. More so, these two leading parties failed to restore the expired women quota in National and Provincial Assemblies, resulting in insufficient representation in the legislative bodies. Nevertheless, in comparison with conservative PML (N), the expectations from a liberal Benazir Bhutto to enforce pro-women policies was more promising. Both parties formed coalition governments, thus remained incapacitated to enact women related laws. Furthermore, they were confronted with orthodoxy within and outside the legislative bodies, posing challenges to their political agendas. Nonetheless, the last two tenures of both parties marked a little difference in their approach towards women issues, resulting in some serious legislation, targeting women problems in socio-economic and political domains. It is imperative to say that the effectiveness of these newly in-placed women related laws and policies has yet to bring change in society as their proper implementation and required institutionalization is in its infancy stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phrase of "the Global War on Terror" was adopted by the media. It was announced that Washington Administration would utilize all its resources to uproot terrorism and will punish all those who are responsible for the 9/11 tragedy. Both Islamic Jihadists and two Bush administrations have deployed spectacles of terror to promote their political agendas; that both deploy Manichean discourses of good and evil which themselves fit into dominant media codes of popular culture; and that both deploy fundamentalist and absolutist discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Pakistan, The judiciary takes on the driving seat particularly in the last decade. The judiciary takes up all the cases of Public Interest litigation (PIL), ranges from the inconsequential cases of kite flying to the privatization of national institution and to the constitutional cases. This proactive role of judiciary has created apprehensions not only in Pakistan but at international leval too. The opponents of judicial activism hold that it cross its jurisdictional limits and interfere in the matters which are purely the prerogative of executive and legislature. The recurrent use of judicial powers by the Pakistan's apex court under the suo moto jurisdiction has taken up all the matters i.e. social, economic, political and constitutional. Pakistan has adopted the parliamentary democracy under the separation of power. The proactive role of judiciary violates the very principle of this theory by crossing its limits. The present research focuses on (i) The concept, origin and scope of judicial activism (ii) The impact of judicial activism in the political, constitutional and democratic process of Pakistan. The research will conclude that judiciary needs to adopt the policy of self-restraint rather than self-indulgent. Adherence to the democratic principle of separation of powers completely, Pakistan can build a strong democratic political system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media is the most crucial element for the development of freedom of expression. Unfortunately history of Pakistan is evident of many unjustified rules and regulations imposed on media at the name of securing „National Interest?. Many steps were taken like Press and Publication Ordinance (1963), creation of National Press Trust (1964), Registration of Printing Presses and Publication Ordinance (1988) etc... to keep the media in control. On October 12, 1999 the fourth martial law was imposed by General Pervaiz Musharraf who introduced a new dimension of media's role towards politics and then media started its journey towards gradual freedom and liberty. This research paper is a qualitative analysis of the relation between Pakistan's political and military governments and media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does secular party incumbency affect religious violence? Existing theory is ambiguous. On the one hand, religiously motivated militants might target areas that vote secularists into office. On the other hand, secular party politicians, reliant on the support of violence-hit communities, may face powerful electoral incentives to quell attacks. Candidates bent on preventing bloodshed might also sort into such parties. To adjudicate these claims, we combine constituency-level election returns with event data on Islamist and sectarian violence in Pakistan (1988–2011). For identification, we compare districts where secular parties narrowly won or lost elections. We find that secularist rule causes a sizable reduction in local religious conflict. Additional analyses suggest that the result stems from electoral pressures to cater to core party supporters and not from politician selection. The effect is concentrated in regions with denser police presence, highlighting the importance of state capacity for suppressing religious disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The main argument of this paper is that the logistical structures of rapid reaction forces offer great dual-use potential. It means they may be used in military operations other than war (MOOTW), such as civil defence or humanitarian assistance. The theoretical model of Haas, Kates and Bowden (1977) is presented in order to defend this argument, as it indicates the utility of intense military actions in the very first moments following a natural disaster due to their ability to rapidly respond in hard-to-access areas. The NATO Response Force humanitarian operation launched to assist the Pakistani government after a major earthquake in 2005 is presented as a practical example. The text concludes by arguing that the dual-use potential of military logistics is an important way to justify the high financial costs of rapid response forces in times of defence budget constraints while also providing other than war operations capabilities, such as civil defence support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite theoretical justifications and empirical evidence that state-owned enterprises have played an important role in late development, as well as over three decades of evidence that privatization programmes since the 1980s have had mixed results at best, international financial institutions continue prescribing privatization as a panacea for developing countries. Pakistan is an interesting case to understand why privatization is still considered desirable, because it is one of a set of developing countries that have whole-heartedly implemented Washington Consensus policies. In this context, we analyse privatization in two key economic sectors in Pakistan: energy and banking. Using qualitative and quantitative data, we describe the motivations behind these privatizations, the process by which they were carried out, and analyse the post-privatization performance of these organizations and sectors. We find that in both cases (a) the privatizations failed not only with respect to their stated aims, leading to a decline in national productive capabilities, but also had adverse distributional consequences, shifting the rewards to the buyers while the risks and costs remained with the public sector, and (b) the suboptimal outcomes of the privatizations went largely unchallenged aided by a prevalent neoliberal view amongst the country's economic policy makers and intelligentsia. Our analysis sheds new light on the process by which privatization in the absence of a state with the capacity to discipline business interests has enabled these interests to obtain state-sponsored rents without bringing any of the associated benefits for economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite labels like ‘failed state’ or ‘hub of terror’, Pakistan remains a somehow ‘normal’ postcolonial country. While many problems are shared by such nations, Pakistan’s complex journey into the future needs to be better understood. Among specific problems, militancy and terrorism have been mainly presented as resulting from interventions by external actors, blaming others. However, failures in internal management and (mis)-adventurous foreign policies have also led to turmoil, disrupting domestic economic development and slowing the pace of democratisation.Assessing the scope for future developments in Pakistan, this article argues that presently Pakistan’s power elites are still not fully ready to admit having learnt from the country’s past mistakes, repeating the same to secure proclaimed public interests, at the cost of killing many of their own citizens. Yet, while the overall picture remains one of precarity, there is also considerable progress. The final analysis explores how this precarious re-balancing has been achieved and is being maintained, and what this means for the future of Pakistan and South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]