Waheed Chaudhry | Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan (original) (raw)

Women & Gender by Waheed Chaudhry

The paper presents a critical debate over the issue of projecting women body in the entertainment... more The paper presents a critical debate over the issue of projecting women body in the entertainment world. Media, a strong mode of promoting the element of change, not only project the distinct spheres of women body within a dominant culture but also represent it to intra-cultures. However, gender projection and the way of how one’s body is allowed to be projected through media is not the recent burning issue in film studies but it opens distinct queries and controversies to be clarified and explained. Representation of women body and its exploitation is a harsh reality of modern setup in which women’s body being used as an object to entertain and attract the attention of costumers. This study is based on first hand data and discusses the projection of women through cinemas in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The Muslim country, where the norms and social values do not confirm the existing subjugation and exploitation of women’s body, the prevailing standards of cinemas only focus on their profit maximization. With the help of qualitative tools, the research was conducted in a cluster of five different cinemas of Rawalpindi. The researchers interviewed the cinema authorities, viewers and visitors and also conducted the Focus Group Discussions by adding in the quality through Participant Observation. The modes of advertisement was closely observed and studied and In-depth Interviews from Painters, technicians and other advertisement staff were also conducted. The conclusion of paper presents critical debate and analysis of this research and opens up new discussion discourses for future researches.

Papers by Waheed Chaudhry

历史研究英文版, 2013

The proposed paper focuses on art as a form of cultural expression and it presents data based on ... more The proposed paper focuses on art as a form of cultural expression and it presents data based on ethnographic information of famous Pakistani musical theatres in Lahore, Province of Punjab. Most description of the performing arts is written by men with an exclusive male perspective. Little or no attempt has been made to explore women lives in performing theatre apart from their assigned role as physical crowd-pullers. This study presents how symbols are used to communicate, as each member of theatre community uses entire repertoire to convey messages, manual gesticulations, body gestures, facial expressions, dance patterns, a particular dress etc. at the cultural level. The central idea of this study is how artists use the body in performance to imagine and enact culture, values, humor, selfhood, and the complex relations among them. It discusses their real backstage life experiences and problems faced as well how and what type of contact they maintain with their audience and admirers. What are their moral values and what kind of social dilemmas they face, how the sexuality of theatre women is being controlled, their fears emotions, distress of theatre women etc. are the major research questions. In short, this anthropological inquiry takes into account all relevant social, cultural, political, economic, and religious dimensions of performing art.

Die Studie, die auf empirische, in Pakistans Punjab erhobene Daten basiert, befaßt sich intensiv ... more Die Studie, die auf empirische, in Pakistans Punjab erhobene Daten basiert, befaßt sich intensiv mit den vorherrschenden Bedingungen, die die Beteiligung der Bauern in Wassernutzer- Assoziationen zur Bewässerungswirtschaft unterstützen oder behindern können. Änderungen in der Bewässerungswasserwirtschaft am Kanal, die durch die aktive Beteiligung der Wassernutzer verursacht wurden, werden auf der Grundlage einer empirischen Untersuchung analysiert, die auf Betriebsebene in einem Dorf des Sarogha-Distrikts im Zentralpunjab durchgeführt wurde. Hauptziel dieser Studie war es, die vorherrschenden formalen und informellen Methoden des Bewässerungsmanagements auf Betriebsebene durch die aktive Mitwirkung der Wassernutzer festzustellen. Während der empirischen Forschung war das Augenmerk auf mehrerte Einfluß- sowie Bestimmungsfaktoren gerichtet, weil sie von grundlegender Bedeutung bei der Gestaltung der Stellung und des Verhaltens der Wassernutzer gegenüber der Wassernutzer-Assoziat! ion ...

(I)Background of the Village and Main Ethnic GroupsThe village, ChakNo. 253/JB (Nangay Sundray) i... more (I)Background of the Village and Main Ethnic GroupsThe village, ChakNo. 253/JB (Nangay Sundray) is situated approximately 35 kilometers on the Jhang-Faisalabad road in the East of the Jhang city. This village was established during 19th century under Sawan Mai's property right initiative. Linder Sawan Mai initiative any person who broke up land in any portion of the district, or who set to work a well that had been deserted, become a proprietor of that land or well. According to Gazetteer of the Jhang District (1883-84) records shortly after annexation, the regular settlement commenced, and it became necessary to fix village boundaries and to create private proprietary rights in land where they had never been before. Before the establishment of formal villages, the masses were living in a state of disarray in houses with their cattle since most of them were predominantly depending on these flocks for their food and livelihood. The village Nangay Sundray was named after the inhabiting Nanga- a sub-clan who relate themselves to Sial tribe.The Sial probably was a pastoral tribe, but little given to animal husbandry, dwelling on the banks of the rivers, grazing their cattle during the end of the cold and the first month of the hot weather in the lowlands of Chenab, and during the rainy season in the uplands of the Bar (Gazetteer of the Jhang District, 1883-84). The inhabitants of this village were predominantly living in the region alongside some other ethnic groups. They still recall the Hindus cohabiting with them. Most of them at that time were economically depending on Hindu Baniya-the merchant group. The population of the locale was majorly constituted by the Nanga families. In addition to the Nanga families there were some other castes who inhabit in the village like, Bharwana, Chiryana, Bajwa. There were some working castes in the locale that provide support to the landed classes in agriculture related activities. There were about 2500 acres of agriculture land in the village. About 95 percent of village land was irrigated through canal irrigation. Although, the ground water was sweet and easy to approach but most of the people were relying on canal irrigation as it was also inexpensive.There were two major cropping seasons in the area while wheat, sugarcane, rice, cotton, maze, barley, and some other fodder crops were yielded. Most of the working classes work on lands on share cropping, fixed rent, or monthly and annual remuneration while fewer of them still work for the landowners under the practice of sepi system (in this practice these workers provide services to the landowners with their specializations and get in-kind remuneration during harvesting seasons). In addition to the agricultural activities local communities were also practicing dairy farming. Recently, a change in the food habits was witnessed in the village. Predominantly, the villagers were using dairy products for diet patterns but recently a trend of selling milk emerged in the village-where four commercial milk collection centers of nationally renowned companies established to collect milk twice a day which consequently reduced the consumption of dairy products.(II)Convergence to ShVismNanga families were converted to the Shi 'ism Islam by Syed Shahbal Shah Bukhari-a descendant of Shah Surkh Bukhari and Sufi Saint Mehboob Alam, popularly known as Hazrat Shah Jewana (or Pir Karorya) about a century back. A family of descendants of Shahabal Shah's was settled in the village. The villagers regularly pay visits for spiritual blessings like for breath {dam), to take amulets {taweez), and making of vows {mannat). They also consult the pir for conflict resolution and political participation.Imambargah Hussainyia was established by Kuryana familiesanother sub-clan of Sial tribe, at crossroad of two villages (Chak No. 253/JB and 254/JB) about a century ago. One of their grandfathers went on to pilgrimage to the holy shrines in Iran, Iraq, and Syria. …

Sufism is associated with the expression of devotion towards God and spreading the message of tru... more Sufism is associated with the expression of devotion towards God and spreading the message of truth. The Sufis in Pakistan and Balochistan remain the ambassadors of love, peace, respect for humanity, and social harmony. The Sufi Saints have contributed significantly to the literature, philosophy, and theological ideas. The study employs an anthropological perspective to examine the impacts of Saint Mast Tawaklis poetry on the Baloch Society by using qualitative research methods. The technique of triangulation and translation was used to verify the data. The research has been conducted in the district of Kohlu, Balochistan. This research reveals that Saint Tawakli is a famous poet of the Balochi language whose poetry is full of messages of love and respect for humanity. His work accurately depicts a lovers emotion and affection, precisely a source of inspiration for young people.

The research was focused on impact of tuition academies on household economy in Model Town Burewa... more The research was focused on impact of tuition academies on household economy in Model Town Burewala of Punjab province of Pakistan. The major hypothesis of the study was based on an assumption that erudition of tuition academies has a significant role in determining student’s career and lifestyle. The focal objectives of the research included: Assessment of additional burden on household budget due to joining of tuition academies, explore new trends adopted by children from academies causing additional expenses, identify priorities of children for spending their pocket money and examine changes in lifestyle of children after joining tuition academies. The data collection was carried out through anthropological qualitative methods by focusing the unambiguous exploration for collection of trustworthy and authentic data. The main findings of the study showed that extra coaching at tuition academies was causing an additional burden on household economy. Belonging to certain higher ethni...

Dec. 4-6, 2017 London (UK) ICEEET-2017, ICABES-2017, ICCATE-2017, ICLSSE-17 & LBMCSR-2017, Dec 4, 2017

The paper focused on "The Intention and practices of Charity by females". Charity is defined as g... more The paper focused on "The Intention and practices of Charity by females". Charity is defined as giving to those in need, or love of one's fellow men. This paper literature states that women are more interested to donate charity and men are more interested in given money in charitable acts. The study deals with the different cultural norms and values that directly affect the behaviour, attitude, practices, intentions and beliefs regarding female charity practices. The study also highlights the various socioeconomic and cultural patterns that shape and define female charity practices and intentions in all age of women. Anthropological research data was used to collect the data. The researcher also used the snowball sampling technique to get required information from the target population. Snowball sampling is non-probability sampling technique where researcher gets referrals from respondent about other respective respondents to acquire desired information. Case studied taken in the field proved to be very useful for collecting the original information. Main findings of study clearly ascertained that research was to find out the conceptual understanding of female about various kinds of charity, evaluation of social value by enumerating the kinds and types of charity by the female and to study the stimulants of female's charities. Females are more generous in terms of Charity rather than men.

ABC Journal of Advanced Research, 2012

The idea of dealing with offenders in the community rather than sending them to prison has a long... more The idea of dealing with offenders in the community rather than sending them to prison has a long history. We have moved far away from the pre-eighteenth century era where punishment meant punishing the body to the eighteenth and nineteenth century where offenders were segregated from their communities often putting them into prisons, which is still one of the dominant forms of punishment in the present days. From late nineteenth century until now, we can observe a move towards punishing and controlling offenders in the community. Basically, the community penalties started its journey as providing "alternative to custody" measures aimed at the welfare and therapy of offenders outside the prison walls. This rationale provided base for the sentencing practices for quite a long time. However, during 1970s, this rational came under attack from some research evidences suggesting that rehabilitation programmes are ineffective in reducing offending. This paper highlights a brief history of the main community penalties in Britain. It specifically focuses on the reason for a change in approaches of community penalties from providing "alternative to punishment" to offering "punishment in the community".

Journal of Religion and Health, 2018

Journal of Asian Civilizations, Jul 1, 2012

IntroductionThe phenomenon of supernatural has been widely prevalent throughout cultures regardle... more IntroductionThe phenomenon of supernatural has been widely prevalent throughout cultures regardless of time and space. Essentially it helps the people of a society to understand things, phenomenon as well as social actions, which are beyond their comprehension under the normal thought process. Thus to understand any society a study of its belief system is indispensable. The present study of the beliefs about witchcraft in Sonikot (a village of Gilgit, Northern Areas of Pakistan) aims at better understanding of the area and its people.Belief in witchcraft has been around as long back as one can remember and even today the waves of time have not been able to wash away the witch's imprint on the sands of many a culture. Though the history of witchcraft has some fiercely bloody chapters but with the 'Age of Enlightenment' a general tolerance of witchcraft was ensued and by the period of Romanticism, witchcraft was unchallenged, since it was accepted as part of the newly valued genre of the occult. Witchcraft became more or less acceptable as folk magic and lost its previously attached stigma. It remained no more punishable under law and as such lingered among many peasant societies. The present study, therefore, endeavors to reveal some important social and religious factors surrounding the phenomenon of witchcraft believed and exercised by inhabitants of Village Sonikot of Gilgit.Research MethodologyThis research was conducted by means of participant observation, indepth interviews with the locals as well as focus group discussions among different age groups (below 12, 13-24, 25-36, 37-48, and 4960). A questionnaire was also used at a later stage to collect related statistical data. Out of a total of 150 households 50 were selected through random sampling owing to the homogeneity of the community.Snowball sampling was brought into use for selection of people who had firsthand experience with a witch. Moreover, a few local academics and religious scholars were also consulted on some specifics related to witchcraft.Understanding WitchcraftThe Princeton University online dictionary defines magic as ".... any art that invokes supernatural powers." This definition, while technically correct, seems woefully inadequate. Webster's dictionary adds a little more to the word with its definition of magic as "the practice of using charms, spells, or rituals to attempt to produce supernatural effects or control events in nature."Even in the absence of a universally agreed upon list and hierarchy of magical practices, the usually classified practices of magic include divination, astrology, incantation, paganism, sorcery, spirit mediation and necromancy. Another version also includes mysticism, paganism, medicine, heresy, witchcraft, shamanism, voodoo and superstitions in this list (International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences: 1968).Thus viewed witchcraft falls under the large umbrella of magic. Even the popular usage of the term 'witchcraft' can mean a wide range of meanings, including forms of magic found in the southern United States, such as voodoo, hoodoo, conjure, or mojo; Haitian voudou, Cuban or Puerto Rican Santeria; any of the other African-based religious systems in the Caribbean or Brazil or elsewhere in south America; and any of the numerous interests designated as parapsychology or psi; or it can mean romantic attraction. Today witchcraft can refer to Wicca or any other neo pagan religions, some of whose adherents refer to themselves as witches (Baroja: 1973)According to the International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences (1968), by "witchcraft", most anthropologists mean a belief in a mystical power that develops in some people and enables them to work evil directly, without magic or spiritual assistance, but some use the term, for instances, of evil magic. Most anthropologists agree that witchcraft is a belief and not actually demonstrable. In Britannica, the online encyclopedia, witchcraft refers to the exercise or invocation of alleged supernatural powers to control people or events, practices typically involving sorcery or magic. …

Present study was conducted in Aynak Copper mine area of District Muhammad Agha, Logar Province A... more Present study was conducted in Aynak Copper mine area of District Muhammad Agha, Logar Province Afghanistan. The study was confined to the inhabitants of the land, their culture, ethnic composition, religion and other socio-cultural characteristics with specific focus on Pashtun culture which is represented by Ghilzai tribe dwelling in Logar province, Afghanistan. The data was collected from 28 settlements through participant observation and focus group discussions. On average 6-10 participants shared their views during which genealogies of the living ethnic group was also attempted by reconstructing. The results of the study explored that in most cases culture of these groups was going to be changed drastically with this developmental project worth 3.8 billion dollars in next 20 years with major concerns for these villages to be resettled after dislocation into other areas of the province or country. Loss of kinship organization with other relevant changes in light of this developm...

La Pensée

Besides the ample vibrant problems prevailing in the society this study is pointed to ponder on t... more Besides the ample vibrant problems prevailing in the society this study is pointed to ponder on the most delicate issue of women's position and its influence on the maternal health care utilization (MHCU) pattern in the context of Pakistan. The study is anomalous because it is conducted in a tribal society where women's position is a scarce phenomenon. The study is based on a representative sample of 211 married female respondents who have passed a period of 6 weeks after their child birth. In this study both the dimensions of women's autonomy and maternal health care were analyzed through sub-indicators. Among the key indicators of women's autonomy education, household decision making, control over finance and freedom of movement is inbounded while the maternal health care indicators are prenatal care, postnatal care and care taken by respondents at the time of delivery. SPSS software version 16 was used to draw correlation between variables of Women's autonomy ...

Present study was conducted in a small community Nahar Kot, District Barkhan, Balochistan (Pakist... more Present study was conducted in a small community Nahar Kot, District Barkhan, Balochistan (Pakistan). The study aims at understanding the role of the early warning system in the disaster management at community level. Indigenous knowledge has a pivotal role in managing the disasters in the absence of the scientific knowledge and vice-versa. This study sheds light on the role of early warning systems i.e. weather predictions based on the typology of the winds and predictions based on the behavior of the animals. The analysis shows that these masses of the tribal community of the Barkhan have an enriched indigenous knowledge purely based on their experiences. They also believe in the elders because of the vast experiences regarding local environment and they also timely get help from their elders to predict weather and mitigate with it.

La Pensée

The global focus on the issue of child labor makes one think that what role does the prevention o... more The global focus on the issue of child labor makes one think that what role does the prevention of child labor play in the development or well-being of a country. This paper tries to find answers to this question by presenting a brief overview of the current situation of child labor in the developed and undeveloped countries with a specific focus on Pakistan. Through the comparison of two different views (regarding issue of child labor) presented by Castells (2000) and Khan (2008), this paper tries to justify the argument that banning child labor throughout the world is not the solution to the problem. With the help of a case study of a brick kiln, this paper proposes the need to deal with this issue within the local context, by taking into consideration the local conditions. This research was conducted in Khera Pul Lahore near Jallo Park. Qualitative anthropological techniques were used to collect empirical data.

Institutional, organizational and participatory aspects The study, based on empirical data collec... more Institutional, organizational and participatory aspects The study, based on empirical data collected in Pakistan´s Punjab, deals intensively with the prevailing contingencies which may support or hinder farmer´s participation in Water Users ´ Associations for the management of irrigation water. The changes in the management of irrigation water at the watercourse level through the active participation of the water users were examined on the basis of an empirical survey conducted at farm level in a village of the district Sargodha in central Punjab. The study area can be distinguished as the very first location in Pakistan where the concept of Water Users ´ Association was experimented, and the watercourse studied was selected as the ´pilot watercourse ´ for the full-scale improvement by the Water Users ´ Association. The main aim of the study was to identify prevailing formal and informal methods for the management of irrigation water at farm level through the active participation of...

La Pensée

This article intends to understand the cultural perception of development and its impact in healt... more This article intends to understand the cultural perception of development and its impact in health sector in the province of Balochistan, Pakistan. The main focus of this study was to understand the nature of development, internal and external factors responsible for the changes and the actual beneficiaries of the development. The research was conducted in Zandra village of district Ziarat in the province of Balochistan. An effort has been made to find out the health care systems working in the village which included both beliefs and perceptions related to health and illness and also the activities which natives have adopted or developed to maintain and restore their health. Initially the natives were using traditional and spiritual healing systems but now as their economic condition and literacy rate is increasing they are more inclined towards the modern methods of treatment. During the last 3 decades many changes have been witnessed. Awareness through media and shift from subsistence to market economy has increased the use of allopathic medicines due to which the natives have started opting for secondary sources of income. Besides, researcher endeavoured to explore the shift from traditional to modern healthcare and the disparity between natives' health related beliefs and practices, the impact of these changes has been analyzed in light of world system theory at micro level. Anthropological research techniques were used to collect data.

历史研究英文版, 2013

Dec. 4-6, 2017 London (UK) ICEEET-2017, ICABES-2017, ICCATE-2017, ICLSSE-17 & LBMCSR-2017, Dec 4, 2017

ABC Journal of Advanced Research, 2012

Journal of Religion and Health, 2018

Journal of Asian Civilizations, Jul 1, 2012

La Pensée

This paper aims to investigate causes and underlying factors that are involved in the survival of... more This paper aims to investigate causes and underlying factors that are involved in the survival of the specific cultural products in village Chakkaral district Gujrat. The primary data was collected by interviewing the thirty female residents of the village age thirty and above from lower, middle and upper social class by means of using stratified random sampling.The results achieved from the research show that income level, social pressure, values attachment could be listed as leading factors in the process of survival of the products in the case of Chakkaral.