Progressive Pakistan

Muhammad Ali Sadpara remained an iconic climber , kind porter and a true mountaineer was based in a small peripheral Sadpara village of Skardu ,Gilgit-Baltistan.He started his expedition few days back with a dream to summit second highest lofty K-2.He was accompanied by his son and others.He set out in winters when temperature usually drops below -15°C at base camp and -63 °C at bottle neck i.e over 8200m of the mighty K-2. The resilient climber Ali Sadpara and his team went missing when they ascended bottle neck while his son Sajid Sadpara returned from 7000 m after some technical fault in his oxygen regulator.The rescue veterans of Pakistan army searched thrice to trace the national hero Ali and others but failed due to intermittent weather.The bad news of missing mountaineers had inundated mainstream media across the globe.Unfortunately the hope of their survival faded away gradually as days passed by. It is pertinent here to discuss whether it was a wrong decision of his to climb ...

  Religion A unified system of beliefs and practices regarding sacred things that unites it's adherents into a single moral community. Elements of Religion 1-Sacredness ,which transcends the everyday life. 2-Set of beliefs 3-Rituals to affirm those beliefs 4-Organisation of believers who share the same belief. Functions of Religion 1-It is one of the cultural universals- globally common patterns and traits- 2-It is an integrative force that has the primary function to preserve and solidify society.It strengthens the collective unity or social solidarity of a group.Sharing same religion increases cohension and fraternity building moral order that leads to creation of a moral community. 3-Religious beliefs can influence the conduct of those who believe in them.It keeps people in line through folkways and mores.It provides a foundation for mores of society. 4-Religion helps in performing ceremonies and rituals related to rites of passage( birth ,marriage ,death and ot...

Culture The values ,beliefs ,behavior and material objects that form a people's way of life.In other words it is the shared way of living. Culture is everything that is socially learned and shared by members of society.The individual receive culture as a social heritage and in return he may reshape the culture and bring innovations which then become part of heritage of successive generations. How culture develops ? People when start living together they identify the challenges they came across.Hence they strive to address those challenges through ideas and innovations.They invent tools ,devices ,objects and artifacts. Characteristics of a Culture Culture socially evolves.It is shared ,mostly adaptive,variable and dynamic.It saves members from trials ,errors through defining a situation ,guiding acceptable behavior pattern that act as a time saving device. Types of Culture 1-Material Culture 2-Non-material Culture Material Culture The inventions by the members o...

  Violence or coercion that culminates in physical ,sexual and mental suffering of gender(male/female).It embues threats and arbitrary deprivation of liberty in private or public walks of life. The literacy rate of Gilgit-Baltistan is higher than other provinces but unfortunately a recent survey on "husbands beating wife is considered okay" throughout Gilgit-Baltistan by women of northern Pakistan. Respondents were asked about the following reasons for husbands perpetrating violence against their wives: if the woman goes out without telling the husband, neglects the children, argues with her husband, refuses copulation and burns the food. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/749999-gb-women-accept-wife-beating This study is an eye opener for everyone where women are proponents of battering.Ostensibly women are oblivious of their rights.Perhaps they are immune to direct,economic ,cultural and structural violence. The so called proponents are unaware as batterers want to ...

The demise of Justice Retired Syed Jaffar Shah is going to change the political dynamics of Gilgit-Baltistan because the veteran politician was among one of the most influential and enlightened figures of the region.He remained President of two mainstream political parties PPP and PTI respectively.The legacy of his politics is paramount to take a bird eye view of social and political paradigms of Gilgit-Baltistan. The nation couldn't forget his services he rendered to the disputed chunk of northern Pakistan.The foremost was the empowerment Ordinance 2009 of Gilgit-Baltistan he drafted, which served as a gleam of light in pitch darkness of backwater ,the cosmetic measures were later replicated in Order 2018 with few more provisions. It is pertinent to discuss about the vacuum and void he created not only in his party PTI but in political canvas of Gilgit-Baltistan.The lack of second row leadership has always been one of the hurdles to strengthen democratic forces in Pakistan.Lik...

Social Stratification is the socio-economic layering of people in a society according to wealth ,power and prestige.The system through which a society bifurcates masses into various categories in comparison with other group or individuals in a society.Class and caste system ,slavery and estates are the offshoots of social stratification. The political spectrum of Gilgit-Baltistan mimics other four provinces of Pakistan in one way or other.Fuedal lords ,elitists and industrialists have legacy of holding key roles in politics to quench the thirst of power and authority.Likewise the elite of Gilgit-Baltistan has been witnessed while playing cards in power corridors to decide the fate of down trodden and poor. Why we always elect the rich to represent the poor ? The popular opinion is poor lack resources and capital to garner votes.If someone pops up from lower or middle class to voice the voiceless, he is compelled to withdraw.This divide erodes the system from inside out.The poor and ...

Pakistan' s Position on Kulbhushan Jhadav : Kulbhushan Jhadav was arrested in March 2016 from Mushkal area of Baluchistan, Pakistan when he orchestrated to meet Baloch militants of Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA).Probably he was betrayed and apprehended by security forces of Pakistan. When he was taken into custody he had two identities. One was Kulbhushan Jhadav,the name he was recruited to Indian Army with in 1987. Later he joined Research Analysis Wing (RAW) as Commander Indian Navy. He also had held a passport with another name Hussain Mubarak Patel , found during his detention. He was not only an agent of Research Analysis Wing (RAW) and naval officer but a despicable tool to fuel anti-state elements and terrorist attacks to sabotage national security of Pakistan. He was in direct contact with Alok Joshi ,the Ex-Head of RAW  and Ajeet Doval National Security Adviser of India. This was the position Pakistan maintained in it's Military courts and International Court of Jus...

Everyone of us need to align and streamline our facts instead of fallacies. First of all there is a misconception that we will invite private companies like Witribe,Nayatel,Multi-net and other ISPs to provide their internet services in Gilgit-Baltistan. Not a single company is authorized to operate in Gilgit-Baltistan except SCO under clause 40 of Pakistan Telecommunication Regulatory Authority Ordinance 1996 and adaptation of Gilgit-Baltistan governance Order 2009-2018 article 71 which states that any citizenry and company can go to court against illegal operation and execution in Gilgit-Baltistan. Clause 40 Pakistan Telecom Regulatory Authority Ordinance 1996 This is totally a political issue.Imagine Gilgit-Baltistan Council that is the supreme body of GB ,PTA ,telco giant of Pakistan and Frequency Allocation Board failed to stand before SCO in Court in 2018 due to Clause 40. Article 71 Governance Order 2009 Our diplomats were at relentless sleep.Therfore they failed to amend this la...

Historic Perspective: The Sino-Indian War between the two South Asian powers  China  and  India  started in 1962.The disputed Himalaya Ladakh,Tibet and Thagla resorted to be the bone of contention that led to war. Mcmahon line was the border line of British India and China but China did not identify this line as legitimate border line and it considered these areas as part of it's own territory. Therefore it deployed troops on border, evidently it was a border violation so India took the issue to international community in response.  Meanwhile a revolt took place in Tibet in defiance of Chinese occupation and People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1959. The most powerful spiritual leader of Tibet Dalai Lama was evacuated to India. The rebellion eventually intensified the dispute between China and India. India retaliated to China’s hostility on border and adopted a Forward policy under the premiership of Jawaher Lal Nehru and moved its heavy troops on bo...

Online lectures and exams amid Corona pandemic sparked a raucous debate about digital divide and poor data services in the country ,especially in the peripheral and difficult terrain Gilgit-Baltistan. The LTE and broadband internet in Gilgit-Baltistan is solely dependent upon an army owned Telecommunication operator named as Special Communication Organization (SCO). The telecom giant SCO has failed so far to live up to the expectations of the populace. The students of GB in dismay staged protests against SCO in various districts of Gilgit-Baltistan. It is said that other telecom operators are restrained to provide LTE services in the region due to monopoly of SCO. The popular narrative of students is to allow other telecom companies to step into the spectrum to provide LTE services. Though they only provide voice services. To unearth the truth about SCO's monopoly one has to unveil the history .In 1976,SCO was given the sole responsibility of managing telecommunication in Gilgit-Ba...

Introduction The term democracy is originated from two Greek words - Demos and Kratos-. Demos means People and Kratos means Rule. Therefore democracy is the “Rule of People”. It is a primitive concept of consensus, when people would gather in a group and select one of the representatives of the clan to voice whole group or society. Aryan-Panchiat system also manifested this mechanism. Democracy was also exercised through citizen’s assemblies in Greek City States. Interestingly Greek Philosopher disdained democracy as Aristotle said, "this is a Mobocracy -rule of the crowd- instead of democracy". Abraham Lincoln anticipated democracy as the government of the People, by the People and for the People. In other words democracy is the people centered government that is responsive and could be held accountable. Legacy of Polarized Democracy in Pakistan British introduced Colonialism in India via direct and indirect rule. It was made possible with the help of Political Parties, Trad...

Background There has been a misconception about Fascism that it is mindless ,uncultured and a criminal political movement purely based on brute force ,that might be a half-truth because fascists loved and promoted art and philosophy. For instance Hitler was an artist. He loved to paint. The National Socialist German workers Party ; the Nazis were inspired by the political thought and philosophy of German Philosopher Frederick Nietzsche. Furthermore during  1920 and 1930 Nazis gathered an enormous electoral support being the largest party in the German Parliament. Though Fascism remained a popular movement yet it  is the naked authoritarianism. The word "Fascism" is of Latin language ,spoken in ancient Rome that means bundle of rods or sticks, this word was created by Benito Mussolini of Italy. The bundle of rods and sticks in the times of Rome were used to punish people to maintain law and order. At times the rod had blades on it to execute people. The bundle of rods wh...

Introduction Financial Action Task force (FATF) is an intergovernmental organization  established by G-7 summit ,held in Paris in 1989.After terrorist attacks in United States on December  11,2001 ,the organization added countering terrorism financing to it's mandate.  It was founded to combat the threats posed to the banking system and financial institutions. The G-7  Heads of state and President European Union convened the task force from G-7 members ,European Commission and eight other countries. The FATF decision making body ; the FATF plenary meets three times a year. Mandate of FATF To set standards and promote effective implementation of legal ,regulatory and optional measures for combating   Money Laundering Terrorist Financing Other threats posed to International Financial System (IFS) Financing of proliferation of nuclear weapons for mass destruction Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Both money lau...