Current Projects
Ulasi Taroon Showcase: Merged Tribal Districts – Aspirations and Challenges-
The 136th radio program as part of the Center for Research and Security Studies’ (CRSS) counter-radicalization initiative Ulasi Taroon (Social Cohesion) aired on the subject theme. The program critically looked at different aspects of the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the importance of this decision for peace in the region. The first guest on show, Mr. Shafiq Sher, Member, Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, noted that the merger enabled the former FATA residents to access formal justice system and enjoy equal constitutional rights like the citizens in other parts of the country; thus ensuring provision of much better mechanisms for conflict resolution, comparing to traditional Jirga system. The pace of developmental processes especially infrastructural development in the erstwhile FATA needs to be expedited. The efforts women empowerment in this region are direly needed and also one of the core considerations for its development. The implementation of local government system can dramatically improve the service delivery and respond to basic needs at the grass root level in tribal areas. The second guest on show, Mr. Shams Mohmand, Project Manager, CRSS, noted that the merger alone cannot just suffice to bring the tribal areas at par with rest of the country, the public awareness and education about their rights and responsibilities needs to happen as well. The third guest on show, Mr. Fawad Khan, CRSS’s Ulasi Taroon alumnus and a student of Islamia College University, Peshawar, said that merger of FATA augurs well for the participation of people of tribal areas; especially women, in the national socio-political and economic life. Discriminatory treatment with one of part of the country can affect the overall development. As a matter of women empowerment in tribal areas, the female population should be encouraged and supported for socio-political and economic participation, as an essentiality to be...
Ulasi Taroon Showcase: Ulasi Taroon At A Glance
The 135th radio program as part of the Center for Research and Security Studies’ (CRSS) counter-radicalization initiative Ulasi Taroon (Social Cohesion) aired on the subject theme. The first guest on show, Ms. Shagufta Gul, an educationist and also the lead facilitator for Ulasi Taroon, noted that CRSS, as part of Ulasi Taroon initiative, has successfully employed different tools of engagement - including capacity building workshops, broadcast, print and social media - to educate and aware the youth in the universities across KP on the ideals of peace and cohesion enshrined in the constitution. The initiative is a conscious effort to prompt the young think critically as to how the citizens are subject to fulfilling different responsibilities besides enjoying entitlement to fundamental rights. Youth should explore their potential for positive social change and development being future leaders, and promote the Ulasi Taroon’s core messages of respect and inclusion. The role of educational institutions is crucial in this regard. They should incorporate the themes of social cohesion and development in the curricula besides addressing the formal educational needs of the students. The purpose of education is not just about the fulfilling the market needs, but also to be cognizant of and address the needs of a cohesive society. The second guest on show, Mr. Inam Ullah Khan, a journalist and freelance reporter associated with CRSS, noted that the way CRSS has been promoting the democratic values key to peace and rule of law is exemplary, and bound to inspire more social change initiatives. The third guest on show, Mr. Idrees Gul, a student and Ulasi Taroon Alumnus, noted that CRSS is providing what the students need the most during their years of education; stimulus to think critically over the concepts key to social cohesion and be responsible citizens cognizant of the diverse needs of their society. The fourth on show, Mr. Mustafa Malik, Team Leader, Ulasi Taroon, noted...
Pakistan must debate with EU through scholars, says Dr.Nazir Gilani
Pakistan needs to have diplomats who have a comparative study of all religions and they need to engage the Christian communities of Pakistani heritage in the country of destination, suggests Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani , President of the Jammu Kashmir Council for Human Rights (JKCHR). There should be an interaction and dialogue with Christian community at home and abroad. This is the civilised means of dispelling all misgivings and best means to check any sinister interests of some in Muslim faith or in these other faiths, he told MatrixMedia. “We have failed to explain in Brussels the manner in which we pay our salutations to Jesus and Moses. Our faith is incomplete without our faith in all the Abrahamic faiths,” Dr.Gilani said. As regards the European Parliament’s concern about the “threats made against a Member State of the European Union” and “make an unambiguous commitment to respect the Member States of the European Union and their representatives and to ensure the safety of European citizens residing in Pakistan.” Pakistan should have no problem in addressing the issue as a member nation of the United Nations. France has a large section of Muslims of Pakistani heritage and France has helped us on the issue of Kashmir, Dr.Gilani argued.
Media should understand its responsibility is to report ideologies, not any specific ideology
One major impediment in taking Pakistan-Bangladesh relationship forward is communication gap as the issues are deemed so sensitive that they can’t be discussed on mainstream media. However, we should effectively utilize the social media to bring the conversation about these issues to the citizens of both countries. This will help in finding commonalities and hence enhancing people-to-people interactions. These were the remarks made by Ms. Amber Rahim Shamsi, Head of Communications, Tabadlab, while speaking at the third webinar in the series “Pakistan-Bangladesh Relations” organized by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), earlier today. Speakers included Mr. Sajjadur Rahman, Editor, Business Insider Bangladesh, Ms. Sumi Khan, journalist and media consultant, Bangladesh, and Mr. Imtiaz Gul, Executive Director of CRSS. She added that journalists’ interactions are important as they have a lot of commonalities on which they can build better collaborations. But Bangladeshi journalists aren’t willing to visit or collaborate with Pakistan. She suggested that the diplomatic gap between Pakistan and Bangladesh is because it’s been 50 years and the two countries haven’t communicated their grievances with each other. Mr. Sajjadur Rahman raised a very valid point that Pakistan and Bangladesh should try to enhance people-to-people relations as without anything happening on the diplomatic front, there is nothing for journalists to report. In order for media to play a role, something has to happen between the two countries, either on economic or trade grounds or on social grounds. He also highlighted the fact that Bangladesh has better trade and tourism relations with India as compared to Pakistan because Pakistan has a lot of internal issues specifically terrorism. Pakistan should take care of its internal issues to enhance people-to-people and bilateral relations. Ms. Sumi Khan, as well as Mr. Rahman, reinforced the recurring recommendation CRSS has been...
A New Perspective to Women’s Empowerment
With the evolution of the idea of intersectionality, there is no such thing as an abstract category of women, which includes all women. From the very moment of birth, we are all born into some structure in the form of a particular class, a particular ethnicity, a particular religion or a particular sect. And we are brought up according to that, and our level of power vis-a-vis the state and empowerment depends on where we are located in the social structure. There tend to be huge differences between and among different women with regard to their social class, ethnicity, religion, sex, and other markers of social differentiation. When these differences are kept in mind, one realizes that the approach to empowerment has to be holistic, it cannot just be the empowerment of women. If a woman is a laborer, then labor empowerment is also important to empower her, if she happens to be a woman as well as a Christian, than the empowerment of minorities is also imperative. Otherwise, even if she’s empowered in one context, she’ll be disempowered in another. So all kinds of empowerment must be all-inclusive and go together, including the empowerment of religious minorities, the empowerment of ethnic minorities, of social classes etc. Empowerment means different things to different people, so there is no single set definition thus far. Moreover, empowerment cannot be ensured by bringing changes at the individual level alone. Self-empowerment is an essential prerequisite for women to get economic empowerment and inclusion opportunities from the state. Basic Goal of Empowerment The ultimate goal of empowering anybody is to create equality in society, relative equality which means that we have to fight the social structure in which wealth and other resources are distributed unequally, as these inequalities tend to disempower people in different capacities. The principle of equality is also enshrined in Pakistan’s constitution; article 25 (2) of Pakistan’s Constitution says that...
Politics in Pakistan: A Gender Biased Domain
According to the global gender gap report 2021 by World Economic Forum, the four major gaps in women empowerment tracked Political Empowerment as the first and most important gap. Across 156 countries around the world, women only represent 26.1 of the 35,500 parliament seats and just 22.6 of over 3,400 ministers. In 81 countries there has never been a woman head of state as of January 15, 2021. At the current rate, it would take 145.6 years to attain gender parity in politics. The gender gap in Economic Participation and Opportunity remains the second largest gap with Educational Attainment as third and Health and Survival as the fourth. In Pakistani patriarchal society political participation of women has yet to be acknowledged as a “respectable” option due to the various prevailing stereotypes and assumptions regarding access to this option. Though the laws of the land and legislations have been ensuring the political rights of women, for instance a total of 10 seats was reserved for women in 1956 Constitution in the unicameral Parliament with five seats each from East and West Pakistan. The 1962 Constitution kept 6 seats for women in the National Assembly with three seats each from East and West Pakistan. The 1973 Constitution held in reserve 10 seats for women for a period of ten years from the commencing day of the Constitution or holding of the third general elections to the National Assembly, whichever occurred later. In 1985, ten (10) seats were increased to twenty (20), whereas the reserved seats for women were increased to sixty (60) in 2002 during Musharraf era. Various Constitutional provisions of 1973 constitution affirm the state’s determination to minimize gender disparity by the elimination of discrimination on the basis of gender and encouraging participation of women in all walks of life. Article 17 (2) of the Constitution provides every citizen with the right to form or be a member of a political party. Article 34 of the Constitution emphasizes...
Obituary and Remembrance – Nasir Khan Durrani
The Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) is deeply saddened to know of the untimely demise of Nasir Khan Durrani, former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). As chief of the provincial police, Durrani worked tirelessly to professionally reorganize a police force that had been in the forefront of the fight against terrorism since the beginning of the questionable war on terrorism nearly two decades ago. Police force in the KP, which shares a 1350-kilometer border with Afghanistan, had been battered and demoralized when Durrani assumed the charge in 2013. He went on to reorganize the entire police force and professionalize their services with the establishment of several specialized training schools including explosives management, riot control and commando training for counter-terrorism missions. Durrani had always believed that the police succeeds only if it wins the trust of the common man. That is why, in an unprecedented move, Durrani made himself available to the public round the clock and established a quick response mechanism for addressing complaints of corruption or responding to unusual crime or security situation, through facilities like Police Access Service (PAS) and Police Assistance Lines (PAL). Dispute Resolution Councils (DRC) was one of his excellent initiatives as part of his efforts to reduce the burden on criminal justice sector institutions and help common citizens by addressing their grievances through an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. The DRC mechanism proved to be a staggering success, with many districts of KP reporting upto 75 percent success rate in resolving conflicts at the community level. CRSS is proud to have worked with the KP police after Durrani opened up to the idea of advocacy for a public-private partnership through a round of consultations. This allowed CRSS and KP police to collaborate and implement a community policing initiative Ulasi Police with dialogues, public fora, and TV...
Syeda Uruba Nisar Social Media Associate Syeda Uruba Nisar is a Social Media Associate at CRSS. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Islamabad. At CRSS, she is responsible for facilitating and assisting project leaders in development of social media strategies and material for all programming in CRSS, along with assisting project leaders in editing/writing/developing of IEC materials, training manuals and project reports. Uruba is also an entrepreneur of an online retail business venture.
Farhana Kanwal Project Coordinator Farhana Kanwal is a Project Coordinator at CRSS, where she works primarily on Pakistan Center of Excellence (PACE), a project countering violent extremism. She has a Master’s degree in Political Science from University of Peshawar. She has previously worked with Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), Sarhad Rural Support Program (SRSP) and a government-run project in different capacities. At CRSS, she is responsible for the coordination, planning, operation, execution and reporting of PACE activities. She is also working as a Research Associate, and has contributed in publication of a research titled The NAP Tracker.
Mohammad Nafees Senior Research Associate Mohammad Nafees is working as a Freelance Journalist and Senior Research Associate with the Center for Research and Security Studies focusing on subjects mainly related with socio-political issues of the country. His columns appear in the print media (The Daily Times and The Financial Daily) and on-line media (Viewpoint). Other than writing columns, he carries out data based research on different socio-political issues of the country. His analytical studies and researches have been used by different national and international organizations. Since May 2013, he has been preparing monthly reports on violence in Pakistan that contain statistical data on violence-related casualties along with a narrative of the prevailing political scenario of the country. These reports are posted on the CRSS website. His professional carrier spans over 33 years of his association with General Electric Aviation Company, USA holding different positions from Technical Representative to the Program Manager at its Karachi Office with PIA. Being a Program Manager of the GE Aviation, USA for Pakistan and Bangladesh, he attended different business related training courses, conferences, and meetings held at different locations in the world. The countries he visited for these official purposes were USA, France, Turkey, UK, Bangladesh, UAE, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.