Saeed Ahmed Rid | Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan (original) (raw)
Papers by Saeed Ahmed Rid
Journal of Contemporary Studies, 2023
China's interest in Afghanistan has grown substantially over the past few decades. This is eviden... more China's interest in Afghanistan has grown substantially over the past few decades. This is evident from the fact that Logar Aynak, the copper extraction project of China, is the largest foreign investment in Afghanistan. In this paper, China's growing engagement in Afghanistan is studied, especially China's role in the aftermath of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is examined at length. The main problems and obstacles China faces in Afghanistan are explored, and challenges and opportunities arise as a result are discussed as well. Considering China's policy of careful engagement in the region, the nature of China's growing involvement in Afghanistan is studied.
Regional Studies, 2022
As confirmed by the then foreign minister of Pakistan Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri in his book Neither ... more As confirmed by the then foreign minister of Pakistan Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri in his book Neither a Hawk, Nor a Dove, India and Pakistan were close to resolving the Kashmir dispute and signing a treaty of peace, security, and friendship in 2007 on the lines of Elysée Treaty signed between Germany and France. But then Mumbai happened in 2008. Since then, despite several efforts, both countries could not come back to the negotiation track which was termed as a stalemate by many observers of South Asian politics. On top of it, the Modi government in India unilaterally revoked Articles 370 and 35-A of its Constitution in August 2019 and converted the autonomous state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. This step has further deepened the stalemate. In this paper, tracing the developments from 2008 onwards, the nature and scope of the stalemate between India and Pakistan are studied. An attempt is made to identify the conflicting issues that have caused this stalemate and where exactly they are stuck. Moreover, the paper also discusses how the two countries can move forward and what can the possible way out is if both parties are willing to move forward.
Progressive Research Journal of Arts and Humanities, 2021
In Pakistan's history of political movements, the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD)... more In Pakistan's history of political movements, the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) has a unique place. MRD was not only one of the strongest movements in Pakistan's political history but also the only political movement which was launched at a time when the military dictator was at the peak of his rule. All the witnesses and research show MRD was most popular in the Sindh province and Sindh was at the forefront of this movement. But strangely so far very little academic research is done focusing on the role of Sindh in the MRD movement. This study focuses on how Sindh became the epicenter of the MRD movement and what kinds of sacrifices were made by the people of Sindh for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was surely one of the leading parties of MRD and her leading role in MRD movement is already well researched. With the help of vernacular sources this research unearths which other political parties and political activists of Sindh took active part in the MRD movement and played key role in making it a mass movement as far as the Sindh province is concerned.
Jahrbuch des Föderalismus 2019, 2019
Pakistan Journal of Social Research, 2021
The careful reading of the history of Pakistan movement tells us the movement rose in response to... more The careful reading of the history of Pakistan movement tells us the movement rose in response to the fear of the imposition of majoritarian-unitary democracy model in British India following the West Minister model. After 1857 war of independence, Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan had advised Muslims not to take part in politics and focus their energies on acquiring modern education and hence securing their due share in bureaucratic positions under the British rule. But when Congress was formed in 1885 and gradually democratic reforms were introduced, the fear of majoritarian-unitary model started creeping in among the Muslim elite. The leaders of Muslim League felt if the Westminster style majoritarian-unitary democracy model is introduced in British India that will ultimately bring over the centralized Congress rule in British India which they equated as the Hindu raj. The debate around the federal question remained on top of the agenda in British India since the announcement of the Nehru report in 1928. The failure of the Congress in addressing Muslim concerns regarding majoritarian-unitary democracy model ultimately led to the partition of India in 1947. In this paper the debate around the federal question and the demands for consociational democracy in Pakistan movement would be studied in detail and it will be analysed how far the failure of addressing the federal question was responsible for the partition of India.
Biannual Research Journal Grassroots , 2021
The Musharraf formula refers to the resolution formula of the Kashmir conflict which was reported... more The Musharraf formula refers to the resolution formula of the Kashmir conflict which was reportedly agreed upon during the one-to-one backchannel dialogue between Mr. Tariq Aziz, the former civil servant and close aide of the then President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf and Mr.Satinder Lambah, a special envoy of the Prime Minister of India. We now know some of the details of this formula from the article of the American journalist, Steve Coll which he had published in New Yorker in March 2009 and the book of Mr.Khursheed Mahmud Kasuri, 'Neither a Hawk nor a Dove' which was published in 2015. Prior to this Mr.Musharraf and Mr.Kasuri had already claimed in their TV interviews and press talks that by March 2007 India and Pakistan were very close to resolving the Kashmir conflict. This paper takes the details of that non-paper agreement and tries to study what exactly that agreement holds for the future resolution of the Kashmir conflict. The basic understanding is whenever the Pakistani and the Indian governments will take up the negotiations on the Kashmir conflict in future, this agreement is bound to come up in the talks as a starting reference point. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully look at this agreement and discuss what it entails for the resolution of the Kashmir conflict. ____________________
Contemporary South Asia, 2020
Aman ki Asha is a joint initiative of the two leading media groups of India and Pakistan, The Tim... more Aman ki Asha is a joint initiative of the two leading media groups of India and Pakistan, The Times of India and the Jang Group of publications, which uses media cooperation for promoting people-to-people contacts and building peace. This is a unique initiative because in the history of peacebuilding, never before the mainstream media houses of conflicting communities are involved in such a peace initiative. Generally local media is seen inflaming the fires of conflict by following the nationalistic lines and portraying one sided picture of the conflict. After its launch in 2010, within few years Aman ki Asha emerged as one of the most successful peace initiatives between India and Pakistan but then suddenly in 2014 it became dormant when Jang group came under attack from the Pakistani military establishment and bilateral India-Pakistan relations worsened under Modi government in India. In this paper an attempt is made to provide a holistic story of Aman ki Asha covering its rise and decline. Moreover, the role played by Aman ki Asha in building peace between India and Pakistan at the top level, the middle range level and the grassroots levels is studied, and its current status is determined.
International Journal of Peace Economics and Peace Science, 2018
Pakistan considers Kashmir as a disputed territory and an “unfinished agenda of partition”. Over ... more Pakistan considers Kashmir as a disputed territory and an “unfinished agenda of partition”. Over last seventy years since independence, on several occasions Pakistan has remained engaged with India in negotiations over Kashmir using the UN platform in 1950s and later the bilateral negotiation platforms since 1972 Simla accord. But overall confrontationist policy towards India over Kashmir had remained the main stay of Pakistan’s foreign policy. It is argued in this paper that the confrontationist policy has served no purpose for Pakistan and has rather made the job of Kashmiri freedom fighters more difficult after 9/11. Therefore, in changed international scenario Pakistan needs a paradigm shift in its foreign policy over Kashmir with India. This research paper is basically the reappraisal of the foreign policy of Pakistan over Kashmir vis-à-vis India. It is a brief study of the main trends followed by the policy-makers in Pakistan vis-à-vis India in last seventy years. It is argued in this paper that a paradigm shift in Kashmir policy of Pakistan took place during General Musharraf’s rule when he had announced the abandonment of the confrontationist policy and had started the peace process with India in 2003-4. However, in post-Musharraf phase (2008 onwards) civil-military divergence over the foreign policy with India led to the implementation problems in policy of paradigm shift. It is argued that the policy of confrontation with India is neither in the interest of the people and the state of Pakistan nor that of Kashmir. Therefore, Pakistan must implement the policy of paradigm shift in true letter and spirit as it not only provides Pakistan a better chance for progress and prosperity but also it would help Pakistan achieving the win-win solution for the Kashmir dispute.
Asia Pacific- Research Journal of Area Study Centre, Far East & South East Asia , 2020
For understanding how democracy affects religious freedom in Muslim majority countries, Indonesia... more For understanding how democracy affects religious freedom in Muslim majority countries, Indonesia and Pakistan are the best case studies because they are top two countries in terms of the Muslim population and the both have experienced democratic and dictatorial regimes. In liberal philosophy 'liberty' and 'equality', which includes the religious liberty and equality are considered fundamental political values that define the core principles of liberal democracy. Therefore, it could be hypothesized that the religious minorities in Indonesia and Pakistan should have experienced more religious freedom during the democratic phases. This paper explains how a regime type (democracy) affects the religious freedom of minorities in Muslim majority countries. Does the personality of the ruler and his political vision matter as well? How the religious groups and religious parties exploit majoritarian principles of democracy to put hurdles in religious freedom?
The Government: Research Journal of Political Science, Dec 17, 2020
Wars, invasions, settlements, sultanates and empires were considered legitimate until 20th centur... more Wars, invasions, settlements, sultanates and empires were considered legitimate until 20th century when they were delegitimized by the League of Nations and the United Nations. From Aryans to Arabs, Turks, Mughals and the British, the Indian subcontinent was invaded and ruled by rulers of different descents. But it was English historian, James Mill who had divided the Indian history on communal lines as the Hindu period, the Mohammedan (Muslim) period and the British period in his famous book, History of British India published in 1817. This book divided the people of India in two unified religious binaries of Muslims and Hindus which were never seen in that way before. After James Mill many British, Muslim and Hindu authors bought that communalized version of history and wrote books on similar lines. However, it was General Zia-ul-Haq who started the project of systematically communalizing the history textbooks in Pakistan in 1980s and then similar project got grounds in India in 2000s when right wing Hindutva party, Bhartya Janata Party (BJP) rose to power in India and history text books were altered. In this paper an attempt is made to study how history has been systematically communalized in Indo-Pak subcontinent to suit the political ends and what havoc it is doing with the people of Pakistan and India. This research will also explore how the upsurge of religious extremism in Pakistan after 1980s and more recent Muslim lynching in India are linked with communalizing the history textbooks in Pakistan and India.
Contemporary South Asia
Aman ki Asha is a joint initiative of the two leading media groups of India and Pakistan, The Tim... more Aman ki Asha is a joint initiative of the two leading media groups of India and Pakistan, The Times of India and the Jang Group of publications, which uses media cooperation for promoting people-to-people contacts and building peace. This is a unique initiative because in the history of peacebuilding, never before the mainstream media houses of conflicting communities are involved in such a peace initiative. Generally local media is seen inflaming the fires of conflict by following the nationalistic lines and portraying one sided picture of the conflict. After its launch in 2010, within few years Aman ki Asha emerged as one of the most successful peace initiatives between India and Pakistan but then suddenly in 2014 it became dormant when Jang group came under attack from the Pakistani military establishment and bilateral India-Pakistan relations worsened under Modi government in India. In this paper an attempt is made to provide a holistic story of Aman ki Asha covering its rise and decline. Moreover, the role played by Aman ki Asha in building peace between India and Pakistan at the top level, the middle range level and the grassroots levels is studied, and its current status is determined.
Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, 2019
Strong bicameralism which means the upper house should be stronger than the lower house is now co... more Strong bicameralism which means the upper house should be stronger than the lower house is now considered as one of the salient features of modern federalism. Upper house is 'the house of federation' because in federalism the classic function of the upper house is to provide equal representation to the federating units which maybe called provinces, states or regions. As Pakistan became a federation since its birth in 1947, ideally Pakistan should have started its constitutional journey with strong bicameralism. But on the contrary, in the first two constitutions of Pakistan unicameral legislature was adopted
Regional Studies , 2018
Being around fifteen per cent of the total population of India, Indian Muslims constitute a signi... more Being around fifteen per cent of the total population of India, Indian Muslims constitute a significant minority that cannot be ignored by the political parties in India. Since partition, the Muslims were considered traditional Indian National Congress (INC) constituency, but the failure of the INC to stop the demolition of Babri mosque and Gujarat massacre pushed Muslims to look for other options. In this study, the impact of communal violence on the voting behaviour of Indian Muslims is studied with the help of a comparative study of Muslim voting patterns in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Kerala. This paper argues that the electoral performance of Muslims and their supported party or coalition has a direct bearing on the communal violence against them. By conducting the comparative study of the electoral behaviour of Muslim voters in these three states, it is observed that the most important factor in this performance is the choices they get in a particular state. The political clout and bargaining position of Muslim voters is much better in a coalition system than in a two-party contest and they can play their cards more successfully if they have their own political party as they have in Kerala. This paper also looks at the role of police in communal violence and its relationship with electoral politics.
Peace Prints: South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, 2012
In this paper, game theory is applied to the Kashmir conflict to establish that Pakistan and Indi... more In this paper, game theory is applied to the Kashmir conflict to establish that Pakistan and India are locked in a “prisoner’s dilemma” over Kashmir. Individual rationality has pushed both
countries to adopt a dominating strategy over Kashmir, leading to several full-fledged and limited wars. However, collective rationality brings about peace as a Pareto-optimal solution
under game theory. An attempt has also been made to show how India and Pakistan can mitigate their dilemma by using the strategies meant for mitigating the prisoner’s dilemma in
game theory.
Daily Kawish , 2019
In this article I have explained how English historian, James Mill who had divided the Indian his... more In this article I have explained how English historian, James Mill who had divided the Indian history on communal lines as the Hindu period, the Mohammedan (Muslim) period and the British period in his famous book, History of British India published in 1817 led to the communalization of history in the subcontinent.
The Government: Research Journal of Political Science, Vol.VII, 2018
The politics of ethnicity across rural and urban Sindh and the fact that it includes Pakistan’s e... more The politics of ethnicity across rural and urban Sindh and the fact that it includes Pakistan’s economically and demographically biggest city Karachi makes a robust local government system essential for Sindh. Karachi and Hyderabad, the two urban centres of Sindh have been dominated by Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) the political party of Mohajirs, the descendants of non-Punjabi immigrants from India, while the smaller towns and rural areas are dominated by the Pakistan People’s Party, the representative party of the indigenous Sindhis. Since Musharraf’s alliance with MQM in 2002 and his changes in Sindh Local Government system to facilitate MQM, the local government system in Sindh has remained a major bone of contention between MQM and PPP on one hand and the Mohajir and Sindhi communities on the other. In this background, this paper is an attempt to study the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 and analyse how far this Act resolves the question of local government in Sindh. Moreover, what kind of administrative and political devolution is provided under 2013 act? And how ethnic identity politics plays out in the local governance in Sindh?
Pakistan Journal of History and Culture , 2017
Scholarly research on Sindhi diaspora has mushroomed in last decade or so but most of this resear... more Scholarly research on Sindhi diaspora has mushroomed in last decade or so but most of this research is about the Hindu (Indian) Sindhi emigrants from Sindh. It covers different streams of Hindu Sindhi migrations from Sindh to all across the world in pre and post-partition phases (in post-partition phase from India to other parts of the world).However, very little research is done about the Sindhi Muslims or Pakistani Sindhi diaspora who migrated in last three to four decades from Sindh to different parts of the world. This study tries to fill that gap in literature on Pakistani Sindhi diaspora. Like Indian Sindhis, during the last three decades, Pakistani Sindhis have also become a global community and they have formed their advocacy groups or
Journal of Contemporary Studies, 2023
China's interest in Afghanistan has grown substantially over the past few decades. This is eviden... more China's interest in Afghanistan has grown substantially over the past few decades. This is evident from the fact that Logar Aynak, the copper extraction project of China, is the largest foreign investment in Afghanistan. In this paper, China's growing engagement in Afghanistan is studied, especially China's role in the aftermath of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is examined at length. The main problems and obstacles China faces in Afghanistan are explored, and challenges and opportunities arise as a result are discussed as well. Considering China's policy of careful engagement in the region, the nature of China's growing involvement in Afghanistan is studied.
Regional Studies, 2022
As confirmed by the then foreign minister of Pakistan Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri in his book Neither ... more As confirmed by the then foreign minister of Pakistan Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri in his book Neither a Hawk, Nor a Dove, India and Pakistan were close to resolving the Kashmir dispute and signing a treaty of peace, security, and friendship in 2007 on the lines of Elysée Treaty signed between Germany and France. But then Mumbai happened in 2008. Since then, despite several efforts, both countries could not come back to the negotiation track which was termed as a stalemate by many observers of South Asian politics. On top of it, the Modi government in India unilaterally revoked Articles 370 and 35-A of its Constitution in August 2019 and converted the autonomous state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. This step has further deepened the stalemate. In this paper, tracing the developments from 2008 onwards, the nature and scope of the stalemate between India and Pakistan are studied. An attempt is made to identify the conflicting issues that have caused this stalemate and where exactly they are stuck. Moreover, the paper also discusses how the two countries can move forward and what can the possible way out is if both parties are willing to move forward.
Progressive Research Journal of Arts and Humanities, 2021
In Pakistan's history of political movements, the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD)... more In Pakistan's history of political movements, the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) has a unique place. MRD was not only one of the strongest movements in Pakistan's political history but also the only political movement which was launched at a time when the military dictator was at the peak of his rule. All the witnesses and research show MRD was most popular in the Sindh province and Sindh was at the forefront of this movement. But strangely so far very little academic research is done focusing on the role of Sindh in the MRD movement. This study focuses on how Sindh became the epicenter of the MRD movement and what kinds of sacrifices were made by the people of Sindh for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was surely one of the leading parties of MRD and her leading role in MRD movement is already well researched. With the help of vernacular sources this research unearths which other political parties and political activists of Sindh took active part in the MRD movement and played key role in making it a mass movement as far as the Sindh province is concerned.
Jahrbuch des Föderalismus 2019, 2019
Pakistan Journal of Social Research, 2021
The careful reading of the history of Pakistan movement tells us the movement rose in response to... more The careful reading of the history of Pakistan movement tells us the movement rose in response to the fear of the imposition of majoritarian-unitary democracy model in British India following the West Minister model. After 1857 war of independence, Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan had advised Muslims not to take part in politics and focus their energies on acquiring modern education and hence securing their due share in bureaucratic positions under the British rule. But when Congress was formed in 1885 and gradually democratic reforms were introduced, the fear of majoritarian-unitary model started creeping in among the Muslim elite. The leaders of Muslim League felt if the Westminster style majoritarian-unitary democracy model is introduced in British India that will ultimately bring over the centralized Congress rule in British India which they equated as the Hindu raj. The debate around the federal question remained on top of the agenda in British India since the announcement of the Nehru report in 1928. The failure of the Congress in addressing Muslim concerns regarding majoritarian-unitary democracy model ultimately led to the partition of India in 1947. In this paper the debate around the federal question and the demands for consociational democracy in Pakistan movement would be studied in detail and it will be analysed how far the failure of addressing the federal question was responsible for the partition of India.
Biannual Research Journal Grassroots , 2021
The Musharraf formula refers to the resolution formula of the Kashmir conflict which was reported... more The Musharraf formula refers to the resolution formula of the Kashmir conflict which was reportedly agreed upon during the one-to-one backchannel dialogue between Mr. Tariq Aziz, the former civil servant and close aide of the then President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf and Mr.Satinder Lambah, a special envoy of the Prime Minister of India. We now know some of the details of this formula from the article of the American journalist, Steve Coll which he had published in New Yorker in March 2009 and the book of Mr.Khursheed Mahmud Kasuri, 'Neither a Hawk nor a Dove' which was published in 2015. Prior to this Mr.Musharraf and Mr.Kasuri had already claimed in their TV interviews and press talks that by March 2007 India and Pakistan were very close to resolving the Kashmir conflict. This paper takes the details of that non-paper agreement and tries to study what exactly that agreement holds for the future resolution of the Kashmir conflict. The basic understanding is whenever the Pakistani and the Indian governments will take up the negotiations on the Kashmir conflict in future, this agreement is bound to come up in the talks as a starting reference point. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully look at this agreement and discuss what it entails for the resolution of the Kashmir conflict. ____________________
Contemporary South Asia, 2020
Aman ki Asha is a joint initiative of the two leading media groups of India and Pakistan, The Tim... more Aman ki Asha is a joint initiative of the two leading media groups of India and Pakistan, The Times of India and the Jang Group of publications, which uses media cooperation for promoting people-to-people contacts and building peace. This is a unique initiative because in the history of peacebuilding, never before the mainstream media houses of conflicting communities are involved in such a peace initiative. Generally local media is seen inflaming the fires of conflict by following the nationalistic lines and portraying one sided picture of the conflict. After its launch in 2010, within few years Aman ki Asha emerged as one of the most successful peace initiatives between India and Pakistan but then suddenly in 2014 it became dormant when Jang group came under attack from the Pakistani military establishment and bilateral India-Pakistan relations worsened under Modi government in India. In this paper an attempt is made to provide a holistic story of Aman ki Asha covering its rise and decline. Moreover, the role played by Aman ki Asha in building peace between India and Pakistan at the top level, the middle range level and the grassroots levels is studied, and its current status is determined.
International Journal of Peace Economics and Peace Science, 2018
Pakistan considers Kashmir as a disputed territory and an “unfinished agenda of partition”. Over ... more Pakistan considers Kashmir as a disputed territory and an “unfinished agenda of partition”. Over last seventy years since independence, on several occasions Pakistan has remained engaged with India in negotiations over Kashmir using the UN platform in 1950s and later the bilateral negotiation platforms since 1972 Simla accord. But overall confrontationist policy towards India over Kashmir had remained the main stay of Pakistan’s foreign policy. It is argued in this paper that the confrontationist policy has served no purpose for Pakistan and has rather made the job of Kashmiri freedom fighters more difficult after 9/11. Therefore, in changed international scenario Pakistan needs a paradigm shift in its foreign policy over Kashmir with India. This research paper is basically the reappraisal of the foreign policy of Pakistan over Kashmir vis-à-vis India. It is a brief study of the main trends followed by the policy-makers in Pakistan vis-à-vis India in last seventy years. It is argued in this paper that a paradigm shift in Kashmir policy of Pakistan took place during General Musharraf’s rule when he had announced the abandonment of the confrontationist policy and had started the peace process with India in 2003-4. However, in post-Musharraf phase (2008 onwards) civil-military divergence over the foreign policy with India led to the implementation problems in policy of paradigm shift. It is argued that the policy of confrontation with India is neither in the interest of the people and the state of Pakistan nor that of Kashmir. Therefore, Pakistan must implement the policy of paradigm shift in true letter and spirit as it not only provides Pakistan a better chance for progress and prosperity but also it would help Pakistan achieving the win-win solution for the Kashmir dispute.
Asia Pacific- Research Journal of Area Study Centre, Far East & South East Asia , 2020
For understanding how democracy affects religious freedom in Muslim majority countries, Indonesia... more For understanding how democracy affects religious freedom in Muslim majority countries, Indonesia and Pakistan are the best case studies because they are top two countries in terms of the Muslim population and the both have experienced democratic and dictatorial regimes. In liberal philosophy 'liberty' and 'equality', which includes the religious liberty and equality are considered fundamental political values that define the core principles of liberal democracy. Therefore, it could be hypothesized that the religious minorities in Indonesia and Pakistan should have experienced more religious freedom during the democratic phases. This paper explains how a regime type (democracy) affects the religious freedom of minorities in Muslim majority countries. Does the personality of the ruler and his political vision matter as well? How the religious groups and religious parties exploit majoritarian principles of democracy to put hurdles in religious freedom?
The Government: Research Journal of Political Science, Dec 17, 2020
Wars, invasions, settlements, sultanates and empires were considered legitimate until 20th centur... more Wars, invasions, settlements, sultanates and empires were considered legitimate until 20th century when they were delegitimized by the League of Nations and the United Nations. From Aryans to Arabs, Turks, Mughals and the British, the Indian subcontinent was invaded and ruled by rulers of different descents. But it was English historian, James Mill who had divided the Indian history on communal lines as the Hindu period, the Mohammedan (Muslim) period and the British period in his famous book, History of British India published in 1817. This book divided the people of India in two unified religious binaries of Muslims and Hindus which were never seen in that way before. After James Mill many British, Muslim and Hindu authors bought that communalized version of history and wrote books on similar lines. However, it was General Zia-ul-Haq who started the project of systematically communalizing the history textbooks in Pakistan in 1980s and then similar project got grounds in India in 2000s when right wing Hindutva party, Bhartya Janata Party (BJP) rose to power in India and history text books were altered. In this paper an attempt is made to study how history has been systematically communalized in Indo-Pak subcontinent to suit the political ends and what havoc it is doing with the people of Pakistan and India. This research will also explore how the upsurge of religious extremism in Pakistan after 1980s and more recent Muslim lynching in India are linked with communalizing the history textbooks in Pakistan and India.
Contemporary South Asia
Aman ki Asha is a joint initiative of the two leading media groups of India and Pakistan, The Tim... more Aman ki Asha is a joint initiative of the two leading media groups of India and Pakistan, The Times of India and the Jang Group of publications, which uses media cooperation for promoting people-to-people contacts and building peace. This is a unique initiative because in the history of peacebuilding, never before the mainstream media houses of conflicting communities are involved in such a peace initiative. Generally local media is seen inflaming the fires of conflict by following the nationalistic lines and portraying one sided picture of the conflict. After its launch in 2010, within few years Aman ki Asha emerged as one of the most successful peace initiatives between India and Pakistan but then suddenly in 2014 it became dormant when Jang group came under attack from the Pakistani military establishment and bilateral India-Pakistan relations worsened under Modi government in India. In this paper an attempt is made to provide a holistic story of Aman ki Asha covering its rise and decline. Moreover, the role played by Aman ki Asha in building peace between India and Pakistan at the top level, the middle range level and the grassroots levels is studied, and its current status is determined.
Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, 2019
Strong bicameralism which means the upper house should be stronger than the lower house is now co... more Strong bicameralism which means the upper house should be stronger than the lower house is now considered as one of the salient features of modern federalism. Upper house is 'the house of federation' because in federalism the classic function of the upper house is to provide equal representation to the federating units which maybe called provinces, states or regions. As Pakistan became a federation since its birth in 1947, ideally Pakistan should have started its constitutional journey with strong bicameralism. But on the contrary, in the first two constitutions of Pakistan unicameral legislature was adopted
Regional Studies , 2018
Being around fifteen per cent of the total population of India, Indian Muslims constitute a signi... more Being around fifteen per cent of the total population of India, Indian Muslims constitute a significant minority that cannot be ignored by the political parties in India. Since partition, the Muslims were considered traditional Indian National Congress (INC) constituency, but the failure of the INC to stop the demolition of Babri mosque and Gujarat massacre pushed Muslims to look for other options. In this study, the impact of communal violence on the voting behaviour of Indian Muslims is studied with the help of a comparative study of Muslim voting patterns in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Kerala. This paper argues that the electoral performance of Muslims and their supported party or coalition has a direct bearing on the communal violence against them. By conducting the comparative study of the electoral behaviour of Muslim voters in these three states, it is observed that the most important factor in this performance is the choices they get in a particular state. The political clout and bargaining position of Muslim voters is much better in a coalition system than in a two-party contest and they can play their cards more successfully if they have their own political party as they have in Kerala. This paper also looks at the role of police in communal violence and its relationship with electoral politics.
Peace Prints: South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, 2012
In this paper, game theory is applied to the Kashmir conflict to establish that Pakistan and Indi... more In this paper, game theory is applied to the Kashmir conflict to establish that Pakistan and India are locked in a “prisoner’s dilemma” over Kashmir. Individual rationality has pushed both
countries to adopt a dominating strategy over Kashmir, leading to several full-fledged and limited wars. However, collective rationality brings about peace as a Pareto-optimal solution
under game theory. An attempt has also been made to show how India and Pakistan can mitigate their dilemma by using the strategies meant for mitigating the prisoner’s dilemma in
game theory.
Daily Kawish , 2019
In this article I have explained how English historian, James Mill who had divided the Indian his... more In this article I have explained how English historian, James Mill who had divided the Indian history on communal lines as the Hindu period, the Mohammedan (Muslim) period and the British period in his famous book, History of British India published in 1817 led to the communalization of history in the subcontinent.
The Government: Research Journal of Political Science, Vol.VII, 2018
The politics of ethnicity across rural and urban Sindh and the fact that it includes Pakistan’s e... more The politics of ethnicity across rural and urban Sindh and the fact that it includes Pakistan’s economically and demographically biggest city Karachi makes a robust local government system essential for Sindh. Karachi and Hyderabad, the two urban centres of Sindh have been dominated by Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) the political party of Mohajirs, the descendants of non-Punjabi immigrants from India, while the smaller towns and rural areas are dominated by the Pakistan People’s Party, the representative party of the indigenous Sindhis. Since Musharraf’s alliance with MQM in 2002 and his changes in Sindh Local Government system to facilitate MQM, the local government system in Sindh has remained a major bone of contention between MQM and PPP on one hand and the Mohajir and Sindhi communities on the other. In this background, this paper is an attempt to study the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 and analyse how far this Act resolves the question of local government in Sindh. Moreover, what kind of administrative and political devolution is provided under 2013 act? And how ethnic identity politics plays out in the local governance in Sindh?
Pakistan Journal of History and Culture , 2017
Scholarly research on Sindhi diaspora has mushroomed in last decade or so but most of this resear... more Scholarly research on Sindhi diaspora has mushroomed in last decade or so but most of this research is about the Hindu (Indian) Sindhi emigrants from Sindh. It covers different streams of Hindu Sindhi migrations from Sindh to all across the world in pre and post-partition phases (in post-partition phase from India to other parts of the world).However, very little research is done about the Sindhi Muslims or Pakistani Sindhi diaspora who migrated in last three to four decades from Sindh to different parts of the world. This study tries to fill that gap in literature on Pakistani Sindhi diaspora. Like Indian Sindhis, during the last three decades, Pakistani Sindhis have also become a global community and they have formed their advocacy groups or
Pakistan Study Group on Federalism, 2015
In Pakistan in recent times so much is written on the federal structure of the country, still res... more In Pakistan in recent times so much is written on the federal structure of the country, still research on Inter-Governmental Relations (IGR) is scarce. Nevertheless, some studies are available on the role of Council of Common Interests (CCI), National Finance Commission (NFC) and National Economic Council (NEC) as IGR forums but strangely very little is written on Inter-Provincial coordination (IPC) which has been functioning since 1972 as an important IGR forum in the governmental structure. Therefore, this is going to be a pioneering research on the origin, development and role of IPC in promoting intergovernmental relations in Pakistan. In this paper the roots of IPC are traced back to the Interprovincial Council set up by the section 135 of the Government of India Act, 1935. Then its development is traced through the 1956 constitution and formation of the Interprovincial Conference (IPC) using the Rules of Business 1973 leading up to the 18th Amendment that was passed in 2010. Moreover, it is explored how far the 18th amendment has changed the structure, size and functioning of IPC. The study shows the18th amendment on one hand has enhanced the importance of IPC but at the same time it has raised some serious questions about its future.
In: Yearbook of Federalism 2019, European Center for Federalism Research Tübingen (EZFF) (ed.), 2019
In this book chapter, the history and evolution of Pakistani federalism is traced from the times ... more In this book chapter, the history and evolution of Pakistani federalism is traced from the times of colonial India up to the current developments. In Pakistan’s seventy years history for about half of the period, Pakistan has been ruled by the military dictators. Therefore, how military rule affected the federal structure in different periods is also analysed. Starting with why a consensus-based decentralised federal structure was demanded by the All India Muslim League2 and the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah from the colonial British government; it is explained how and why Pakistani state chose to develop a federal structure in complete contradiction to what they were demanding from
the British after independence in 1947. The constitutional debates about federalism in early phase and federalism under 1956, 1962 and original 1973 constitutions are discussed in detail. It is also explained how 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award and 18th constitutional amendment passed in 2010 were a departure from the past centralised federal structures and had ushered a new phase of decentralised federalism in Pakistan. In last section the current tensions between the ‘state elite’ and the ‘political elite’ on new decentralised federal structure are analysed.
This study aimed: i) To briefly summarize Pakistan’s experiences with LG systems since 1947; ii) ... more This study aimed: i) To briefly summarize Pakistan’s experiences with LG systems since 1947; ii) To understand the contours of the Islamabad LG system 2015 and analyze whether the extent of administrative, financial and political devolution provided in it is sufficient to achieve the efficiency, effectiveness, equity and egalitarianism aims of LGs, iii) To compare the Islamabad LG system with earlier attempts at devolution in Pakistan and with the LG systems of 2-3 other capital cities globally, iv) To analyze the opinions of key stakeholders, including local councilors, communities and civil society members about the Islamabad LG system, v) To provide recommendations for improving the system in the future, and vi) To develop an advocacy agenda around the recommendations.