ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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Infrastructural Ephemera and Public Health in Pakistan

“Infrastructural ephemera” as a set of spontaneous affective relations critical to the success of large-scale projects of urban governance in the urban South are examined. The deep contradictions underscoring the labours of women employed as community health workers in Lyari Town, Karachi, at a time of intense gang violence, are explored. Drawing on two years of field research as a polio vaccinator in Lyari, the reach (and limits) of daptability, skills, and labour (physical, mental, and emotional) involved in the maintenance and repair of a fragile public health infrastructure are explored. Maintaining “community health” also involves dealing mortal and aspirational death to those that provide infrastructural labour to the project of giving life.

Eschewing and (Not) Manipulating Escalation

India’s unwillingness to tactically manipulate escalation makes its responses predictable and has led to strategic inertia most evident in the handling of the situation at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.

Research Radio Ep 7: Who is Afraid of Pakistan’s Aurat March?

In this episode, we speak to Afiya Shehrbano Zia about Pakistan's Aurat March and debates between secular and right-wing women's groups.

Coke Studio Pakistan: An Ode to Eastern Music with a Western Touch

Since it was first aired in 2008, Coke Studio Pakistan has emerged as an unprecedented musical movement in South Asia. It has revitalised traditional and Eastern classical music of South Asia by incorporating contemporary Western music instrumentation and new-age production elements.

Who Is Afraid of Pakistan’s Aurat March?

Pakistan’s women are marching against patriarchy, but what is their destination and who is standing in their way? The Aurat March of 2019 faced severe backlash from both conservative as well as like-minded quarters, on account of some hard-hitting slogans and jabs raised against prevalent masculinist social norms. These have brought to the fore some paradoxes within feminist politics, which merit resolution for the sake of the emergence of stronger feminist politics in Pakistan.

Perils of Relying on American Support

The contemporary wars in the Indian subcontinent have seen an increasing involvement, or at least, mediation, by the United States. The subcontinental elite have relied far too much on the US to bring them victory in war. India learnt the lesson in 1962 when the US failed to provide India the much needed bomber support to win the war. For Pakistan, the moment arrived in 1971, when despite overt US support, it failed to preserve East Pakistan. Once again India seems to be relying on American support to achieve its objectives in Kashmir, imagining that personal relations with American leadership is enough to win wars.

Scholars, Intellectuals, Activists, and Concerned Citizens Appeal to India and Pakistan to Exercise Restraint

Governments on both sides should refrain from further hostilities, overt or covert, and attempt to resolve their differences within the framework of international law and human rights.

Indian Foreign Policy

India’s foreign policy management and delivery critically need improvement. Going beyond incremental improvements, straightforward and clearly delineated foreign policy objectives should be developed. Coordinating with non-state actors, nurturing relations with neighbouring nations, and a diplomatic overhaul should be the key elements of India’s foreign policy.

From Agenda of Alliance to Agenda of Split

The upping of the anti-militancy operations following the break-up of the Peoples Democratic Party–Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in Jammu and Kashmir is seen as being carried out with a view to win the general elections at the cost of Kashmiri lives and bodies scarred with pellets.

The End of Democracy or a New Resurgence in Pakistan?

Pakistan’s general elections are scheduled to be held in July 2018. Contrary to the popular argument that the Pakistani military has revived complete dominance and hegemony over civilian and electoral politics, fewer people are now buying into the opinion in Pakistan that the military is somehow “better” than democracy. Unlike 1958, 1977, or 1999, when an outright military coup was welcomed and embraced, the options for the military are fewer and limited in 2018.

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