Focus on Pakistan


Book Description

Presents an overview of Pakistan, covering its landscape, climate, people, government, economy, transportation system, education, healthcare, culture, religion, and recreation.




Pakistan in Focus: a Short Story of the Birth of Pakistan


Book Description

Although, the author has already written a detailed book on the subject but due to political activism and on the eve of the General Elections of 2018, the author has found it necessary to publish a short introduction on the subject in the series of books on 'Pakistan in Focus'. It is incumbent on every one of us whether of this generation or of future generations to learn lessons from past mistakes and sincerely imbibe and act upon the directives and guidelines provided by the Founder of Pakistan in the form of excerpts of the speeches, statements, messages and addresses stated in this Book and unite in their efforts in building Pakistan one of the greatest Nations of the World. The Book is organized in ten (10) Chapters. First Chapter provides the introduction. Chapter 2 consists of Early Years of Jinnah's Life [1876-1904] and Includes: Jinnah's Childhood; Jinnah's Youth; and Jinnah as a Young Lawyer. Chapter 3 consists of Early Years of Jinnah's Life [1876-1904] and includes: Jinnah's Childhood; Jinnah's Youth; Jinnah as a Young Lawyer. Chapter 4 consists of Second Phase of Jinnah in Politics [1920-1934] and includes: Professional and Political Life during Second Phase; Family Life during Second Phase; and Political Development during the Time of Jinnah in London [1931-1934]. Chapter 5 consists of Jinnah's Transformation [1934-1940]. Chapter 6 consists of Jinnah's Vision of Pakistan [1940-1946]. Chapter 7 consists of Jinnah's Realization of Charismatic Goal of Pakistan [February 1946 - 10th July 1947] Chapter 8 consists of Jinnah, The Quaid-I-Azam of Pakistan [11th August 1947 - 11th September 1948] and includes: Quaid-I-Azam, The First Elected President of The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan; Quaid-I-Azam, Father Of Pakistan: Birth Of Pakistan; and Quaid-I-Azam, The First Governor General and The Nation Builder of Pakistan.Chapter 9 consists of Some Personal Qualities & Traits of The Quaid-I-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and includes: General Characteristics of Quaid-I-Azam; Kind and Affectionate, Fair-Minded And Free From Ill Will Towards Other Communities; Bold and Very Courageous; Calm but Shrewd; Sharp, Witty And Humorous; Clarity of Thoughts And Expression; Having Spirit of Exceptional Vitality And Endurance; No Baseness in His Character; Diligent, Disciplined and Orderly; Clarity of Thoughts and Expression; Having Spirit of Exceptional Vitality and Endurance; No Baseness in his Character; Diligent, Disciplined and Orderly; and Staunch Believer of Islamic Principle 0f Human Equality. Chapter 10 consists of Summary and Conclusion and the Book is supported with Bibliography.




The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Precarious State


Book Description

Winner of the 2021 Overseas Press Club of America Cornelius Ryan Award The former New York Times Pakistan bureau chief paints an arresting, up-close portrait of a fractured country. Declan Walsh is one of the New York Times’s most distinguished international correspondents. His electrifying portrait of Pakistan over a tumultuous decade captures the sweep of this strange, wondrous, and benighted country through the dramatic lives of nine fascinating individuals. On assignment as the country careened between crises, Walsh traveled from the raucous port of Karachi to the salons of Lahore, and from Baluchistan to the mountains of Waziristan. He met a diverse cast of extraordinary Pakistanis—a chieftain readying for war at his desert fort, a retired spy skulking through the borderlands, and a crusading lawyer risking death for her beliefs, among others. Through these “nine lives” he describes a country on the brink—a place of creeping extremism and political chaos, but also personal bravery and dogged idealism that defy easy stereotypes. Unbeknownst to Walsh, however, an intelligence agent was tracking him. Written in the aftermath of Walsh’s abrupt deportation, The Nine Lives of Pakistan concludes with an astonishing encounter with that agent, and his revelations about Pakistan’s powerful security state. Intimate and complex, attuned to the centrifugal forces of history, identity, and faith, The Nine Lives of Pakistan offers an unflinching account of life in a precarious, vital country.




Making Sense of Pakistan


Book Description

Pakistan's transformation from supposed model of Muslim enlightenment to a state now threatened by an Islamist takeover has been remarkable. Many account for the change by pointing to Pakistan's controversial partnership with the United States since 9/11; others see it as a consequence of Pakistan's long history of authoritarian rule, which has marginalized liberal opinion and allowed the rise of a religious right. Farzana Shaikh argues the country's decline is rooted primarily in uncertainty about the meaning of Pakistan and the significance of 'being Pakistani'. This has pre-empted a consensus on the role of Islam in the public sphere and encouraged the spread of political Islam. It has also widened the gap between personal piety and public morality, corrupting the country's economic foundations and tearing apart its social fabric. More ominously still, it has given rise to a new and dangerous symbiosis between the country's powerful armed forces and Muslim extremists. Shaikh demonstrates how the ideology that constrained Indo-Muslim politics in the years leading to Partition in 1947 has left its mark, skillfully deploying insights from history to better understand Pakistan's troubled present.




Focus on Pakistan


Book Description




Pakistan


Book Description

Recent writings on Pakistan have tended to focus on the role of the Pakistan Army, the nuclear programme, terrorism, Pak-Afghan and Pak-US relations and, of course, Indo-Pak relations. Pakistan: Courting the Abyss goes beyond sensationalist headlines and current crises like terrorism and tensions with India, to the deeper malaise that afflicts the nation. The book examines issues like identity, the looming water crisis, the perilous state of education, the economic meltdown and the danger of an unrealized 'demographic dividend' that have been eating the innards of Pakistan since its creation. It looks back at the Pakistan movement, where the seeds of many current problems were sown - the opportunistic use of religion being the most lethal of these. Pakistan: Courting the Abyss questions the flawed prescriptions and responses of successive governments, especially during military rule, to these critical challenges that have brought Pakistan to an abyss where it risks multi-organ failure, unless things change dramatically in the near future.




Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Pakistan


Book Description

With a population of 190 million, Pakistan is strategically located at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central and South Asia, and has the second largest Muslim population in the world. The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Pakistan provides an in-depth and comprehensive coverage of issues from identity and the creation of Pakistan in 1947 to its external relations as well as its domestic social, economic and political issues and challenges. The Handbook is divided into the following sections: • Economy and development • External relations and security • Foundations and identity • Islam and Islamization • Military and jihad • Politics and institutions • Social issues The Handbook explains the reasons why Pakistan is so often at the forefront of our daily news intake, with a focus on religious and political factors. It asks questions regarding the institutions and political parties which govern Pakistan and provides an insight into the relationships which the country has forged since its creation, culminating in a discussion of the state’s involvement in conflict. Covering a range of topics, this Handbook offers a wide range of perspectives on Pakistan. Bringing together a group of leading international scholars on Pakistan, the Handbook is a cutting-edge and interdisciplinary resource for those interested in studying Pakistani politics, economics, culture and society and South Asian Studies.




Educational Policies in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan


Book Description

In the mountains of the Northern Pakistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan School and schooling are both symbolic of wider ranging cultural and political battles over morals, modernity, development, gender and the rule of law. Educational Policies in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan: Contested Terrain in the Twenty-First Century is about both the normative battles over the purpose of education, as well as about the structural impediments to providing instruction in those remote and challenging locations where it is attempted. The analytical frames in this collection come primarily from the social sciences and comparative education. Contributors examine education, policy, processes and structures in the broader socio-cultural, religious and economic context of three countries sharing somewhat similar colonial and post- colonial legacy and current uprising of extreme religious positions and a drive to social-cohesion.




Avoiding Armageddon


Book Description

The India-Pakistan-America relationship has never been a settled one. In Avoiding Armageddon, Bruce Riedel explains the challenge and the importance of successfully managing America's affairs with these two emerging powers and their toxic relationship. The fact that India and Pakistan will be among the most important countries in the twenty-first century makes this a pressing concern. Born from the British Raj, the two nations share a common heritage, but they are different in many important ways. India is already the world's largest democracy and will soon become the planet's most populous nation. Pakistan, soon to be the fifth most populous country, has a troubled history of military coups, dictators, and harboring terrorists such as Osama bin Laden. The long-time rivals are nuclear powers, with tested weapons. They have fought four wars with each other and have gone to the brink of war several times. Meanwhile, U.S. presidents since Franklin Roosevelt have been increasingly involved in the region's affairs. In the past two decades alone, the White House has intervened several times to prevent nuclear confrontation in the subcontinent. South Asia clearly is critical to American national security, and the volatile relationship between India and Pakistan is the crucial factor determining whether the region can ever be safe and stable. Full of riveting details of what went on behind the scenes, and based on extensive research and Riedel's role in advising four U.S. presidents on the region, Avoiding Armageddon reviews the history of American diplomacy in South Asia, the crises that have flared in recent years, and the prospects for future crisis. Riedel provides an in-depth look at the Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008, the worst terrorist outrage since 9/11, and he concludes with authoritative analysis on what the future is likely to hold for America and the South Asia puzzle as well as recommendations on how Washington should proceed.




The Faithful Scribe


Book Description

A journalist explores his family’s history to reveal the hybrid cultural and political landscape of Pakistan, the world’s first Islamic democracy Shahan Mufti’s family history, which he can trace back fourteen hundred years to the inner circle of the prophet Muhammad, offers an enlightened perspective on the mystifying history of Pakistan. Mufti uses the stories of his ancestors, many of whom served as judges and jurists in Muslim sharia courts of South Asia for many centuries, to reveal the deepest roots—real and imagined—of Islamic civilization in Pakistan. More than a personal history, The Faithful Scribe captures the larger story of the world’s first Islamic democracy, and explains how the state that once promised to bridge Islam and the West is now threatening to crumble under historical and political pressure, and why Pakistan’s destiny matters to us all.