UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB
Not a member yet
2915 research outputs found
Sort by
A Voice from the Margins: An Appraisal of Ubaid-Allah Sindhi’s Mahabharat Sarvrajia Party and its Constitution
No full textUbaid-Allah Sindhi is among those very few political thinkers and activists of the twentieth-century India who were initially associated with the traditional theological seminaries but their political vision was marked by liberalism and openmindedness. He established a non-communal political party— Mahabharat Sarvrajia Party in 1924 in order to translate his political ideals into practice. The Party Constitution envisaged the idea of a unique form of confederal form of government for the country. It also presented an outline of a socio-economic order which was derived from a reconciliation of Socialist ideals with the Quran and Shah Wali-Allahi thought. However, he is among one of the least understood and often misinterpreted Muslim thinkers of India. Thus, there is a need to appreciate and reevaluate the political modernism in his thought and vision
Civil Service Reforms in Nigeria: The journey so far in service delivery
No full textNations all over the world are currently in the struggle to better their existence through the process of good governance, and responsible civil service for effective and efficient service delivery. Nigeria is one of such countries. However the kind of civil service bequeathed to Nigeria by her colonial master was alien and narrow in scope, and so not development oriented. At Nigeria independence in 1960, the federal civil service had a staff strength of only 30,000, this increased steadily to the level of 200,000 in the late 1990s due to political patronage. Many unqualified personnel joined the Civil Service which resulted to over sized workforce that absorbed about 87% of the total government revenue. The paper examined the civil service reforms in Nigeria from independence to the present and how they affected efficient and effective service delivery in the country. It is the position of paper that the kind of civil service reform that would tackle these problems should be evolutionary and pragmatic in nature to meet Nigeria developmental needs and the challenges of the modern world
Invasion of Iraq: Introspective Analysis of US Long Term Foreign Policy in the Middle East
No full textA critical analysis of the available accounts given about the United Sates (US) and United Kingdom (UK) – Iraq war (This was actually not a war but deliberate invasion) reveals a very cleverly calculated and planned strategy. The US and UK knew well in advance that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) (If Saddam Hussein had WMD then US and UK might have given him during Iran-Iraq war which they deliberately refused to tell the world. This was a possible revelation for their insistence that Saddam Hussein had WMD). The unilateral decision taken by US and UK to wage this brutal and senseless war against Iraq killing millions of innocent Iraqis, destroying built infrastructure and plunging the country into perpetual absolute chaos is worth an account. In this empirical literature review research paper an analysis of Iraq invasion is provided to inform the world about the premeditated intentions of US and UK to unilaterally wage war on Iraq despite UN and worldwide protests
Analysis of mass media: Influences on Socio-political perceptions and stability in Pakistan
No full textIn today’s global world responsibility of Pakistani media is far more than any other media in the world as Pakistan needs a change for his national solvency. Media reshapes Public opinions, influence cultural, social and political perceptions of people in Pakistan in greater extent. Mass media bringsawareness among public about the national issues highlighting certain attributes of national issues. Electronic media make a huge contribution in developing public knowledge but could not produce such behavior that may alter public’s attitude towards solving political and national issues. Throughout the history,Pakistani media has been controlled by the state. The electronic media of Pakistan records tremendous growth in short period of time but Reputation of Pakistani media has violated due to its failure in comprehensively understandingthe affairs, as media contributes toward crispy issues and crisisrather than addressing the real facts and causes ofsocietal and developmental issues. As media is consider thereal agent of change but the nature and degree of change depends upon the information given coverage . The media content is also disgraceful and not realist to describe an issue. This behavior of media requires change. Media plays a vital role in promoting national cohesion and unity thus there is need of liberal media policy as a driving force for national unity and homogenity. The need of time is to launch a sustain media campaign.Pakistani media must understand now that it represents the Islamic country in the whole word, the country which holds great importance which is not only Islamic but also recognize as the hallmark of piece in whole world. Now media should change their behavior towards mobilizing the people of Pakistan in order to bring out the country from the deep trench of issues and become highly sensitive towards fulfilling its responsibilities
Emerging New Threats in International System: Limitations on State’s Capacity
No full textPost cold war international political and security environment has posed challenges in the form of emerging new threats and a new security environment.These threats include but are not limited to terrorism, nuclear proliferation, narcotics and migration. However, the horrible event of 9/11 presented terrorism as the most serious and immediate threat to security in a globalizing world. Technological developments have increased the potential impact of future terror incidents e.g., the dimensions of bioterrorism, nuclear terrorism etc. Two crucial elements to counter these emerging threats comprise of a comprehensive strategy and the state. State is the central element to implement any counter-strategy whatsoever. Nevertheless, states have limitations in this regard. These limitations are driven by state’s own national interests, its security perceptions,political, economic and social configurations. This study examines those limitations of state in detail that affect the states response capabilities
The Bush Doctrine of Pre emption and the US response after 9/11 attacks: Invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq
No full textThe ‘War on Terror’ is the policy response of the US to the 9/11 attacks on US. President Bush strategy was devised to react and invade Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda were under the so called protection of the Taliban government. The US pressurized Pakistan to abandon their support for Taliban and become the front line ally in the ‘War on Terror’. Most importantly the US National Security Strategy 2002 provided the justification for anypreemptive action by the US, if the national Security of the US is threatened by any state or non state actor anywhere in the world. This strategic move and policy decision of the US foreign policy became known as the Bush Doctrine. The US being the only super power takes the responsibility and the courage to ensure the US National Security. Invasion of Iraq was purely pre emptive and without any legal or moral justification and was the test case for Neo conservative supported Bush Doctrine of pre emption. This article is an attempt to explain the Bush Doctrine and to analyze and find the rationale for the US policy of pre – emption in shape of an attack on Afghanistan in the name ‘War on Terror’
Religious Militant Extremism: Repercussions for Pakistan
No full textThe gravest challenge Pakistan today faces is militant extremism which has left the society terrorized, fear prevails amongst the masses due to the ongoing suicide attacks leading to the killings of innocent people. Earlier Taliban, Al-Qaeda and local militant groups since 2001 were mostly based in the tribal belt but now have spread to the settled areas of Pakistan. Various sectarian groups and religious organizations have now also become a part of their network; together they have led to acts of violence and terrorism. Jihadi madrassas are also playing a crucial role in fueling extremism in the society. No doubt the prevalent situation is very complicated with so many groups, organizations joining hands in militant terrorist activities. Before it is too late, effective counter terrorism strategies need to be developed and adopted by both the provincial and the federal governments as to curtail the ongoing carnage of violence by the militant extremists. Various political parties, religious groups, sectarian groups, media and civil society need to develop consensus on the complete rejection to militarism in society. There is need to shun off petty differences on religious and sectarian basis. A unified society rather than a fragmented one will be the best resistance to the ever growing trend of militant extremism in Pakistan. Religious tolerance and moderation are the key words towards de-radicalization in Pakistani society
The Determinants of Self-Employment in Pakistan: Evidence from Primary data Analysis
No full textThe foremost objective of this paper is to investigate the various determinants of self-employment in Pakistan, considering primary source of data at the district level. The sample of 494 workers residing in Bahawalpur district has been interviewed. We have employed Logistic Regression technique to estimate the determinants of self-employment model. The study concludes that experience and age of the workers have positive and significant impact on selfemployment. Moreover, educational attainment and good health variables have also significant and positive influence on workers‟ decision to be self-employed. Based on the results and discussions, study suggests that government should provide technical and agricultural education at basic and secondary level to the workers. It is also concluded that health facilities should be provided at the massive scale particularly in rural areas
Pak-Iran Relations in the Post-Imperial World
No full textThe continuing interaction between the peoples of Iran and Pakistan is centuries old. It has its roots in historical, cultural and lingual affinity. ‘From the time of first sustained Muslim influences’, states Howard Wriggins, ‘the models for political structure and processes as well as religious inspiration and cultural influences came from Iran and not the Arab Middle East.’1 The trajectory of Iran - Pakistan relations has been shared by not only the domestic and regional dynamics but also due to the impact of global correlation of forces. As the title indicates, this paper is an attempt to analyze the situation of Pakistan-Iran relations in the post-imperial world
Power Sharing and Baloch Nationalism
No full textThe paper is an attempt to highlight the power sharing syndrome and Baloch nationalism. There is a correlation between the lack of power sharing and Baloch nationalism with separatist trends. The lack of power sharing and sense of deprivation amongst Baloch is accountable for Baloch nationalism and alienation