In the midst of intense political turmoil, Pakistan’s parliament elected its new Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif on April 11, reports The New York Times. The new Prime Minister was voted in after the previous Prime Minister, Imran Khan, was ousted in a contentious no-confidence vote on April 10.
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On February 24, Zahir Jaffer was sentenced to death by hanging for the 2021 high-profile rape and murder of Noor Muqaddam in Pakistan, reports The Guardian. The killing of Muqaddam has been front page news in Pakistan since its occurrence, due to the upper-class status of both individuals. Muqaddam, the daughter of former Pakistan diplomat Shakaut Ali Muqaddam, and Jaffer, the son of one of the wealthiest industrial families in Pakistan, had known each other for most of their lives, as they had grown up in high society with the same circle of friends, reports BBC News.
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Salami tactics, or conquering an enemy piece-by-piece, is a well-known strategy in international relations used to overcome opposition and weaken enemy states. The People’s Republic of China and India faced tensions earlier this year in what was their second faceoff since 2020. In May 2020, a clash between the troops of both countries along the Sino-Indian border resulted from India’s infrastructure plan in the bordering region near Ladakh. Both the countries engaged in cross-border-firing on September 7, 2020, the first time in 45 years.
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Both India and Pakistan have characterized the residents of Kashmir as pawns in their never-ending political and religious games of chess. Kashmiri women, in particular, bear the brunt of the conflict’s consequences. Among other things, they are subjected to sexual violence with little recourse for justice, and the battle for national and religious superiority in the region only worsens the physical impact on women.
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On Monday, September 13, hundreds of journalists surrounded the Pakistani Parliament House in Islamabad to protest a proposed media regulation law. The controversial law would allow the Pakistani government to create a new agency called Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA).
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Climate change and nuclear weapons, two existential threats to humanity, work to exacerbate each other’s detrimental effects. Though the two topics may seem distantly related at first glance, they share many connections.
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A young transgender woman opened the first transgender-only madrasa in Islamabad, Pakistan. A madrasa is an Islamic religious school where students can pray, learn the teachings of the Qur’an, and discuss other Islamic subjects. Rani Khan, the founder of the school, explained to Reuters that in a dream, her transgender friend who passed away was in a great state of agony, begging her to do something for the transgender community. The dream changed her life and inspired her to use her life savings towards creating this two-room school.
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For the first time in almost 20 years, India and Pakistan have ceased firing across their shared border. Military officials from both nations released a joint statement stating they have agreed to a new ceasefire that went into effect at midnight on February 26, according to The New York Times.
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Last week, the Indian-Pakistan Kartarpur corridor finally opened for Sikh pilgrimage. The opening of the corridor, a 2.5-mile visa-free border crossing, symbolizes a rare show of bilateral cooperation between the two feuding nations.
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Pakistan is one of the only three countries in the world, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where polio continues to paralyze children.
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