Current Projects
Malik Mustafa Manager Programs/ Team Leader Malik Mustafa is a development professional working with the CRSS as Manager Programs/ Team Leader. This position implies enormously important roles and responsibilities to promote a discourse embedded in the global democratic values and ideals critical to social peace and cohesion. This is mainly achieved through advocating for respect for fundamental human rights and differences, exhibiting tolerance for diversity, equal citizenry, adherence to rule of law and primacy of constitution, as a measure of strengthening social fabric of the society. Through the course of his work as a non-profit leader, he believes in the change he is working for and is steadfastly striving for a just society where all the inhabitants are acknowledged as equal citizens and have access to fundamental human rights enshrined in the constitution. The endeavors aim to address the critical contemporary issues – such as rule of law, democracy, governance, peacebuilding, social cohesion, counter-radicalization and cross-border engagement - falling within the ambit of the Center's thematic focus. This role complements the said organizational objectives; utilizing his skills/ expertise on devising, implementing and monitoring results based programs and strategies; manifest in strategizing, spearheading and evaluating over 15 different ongoing and completed projects on global democratic values, social cohesion, youth development, counter-radicalization, rule of law, governance, multiculturalism and cross border engagements, as part of Center’s strategic partnership with several international donor partners. This includes supervision of the programs such as i) Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s State, Religion and Democracy and ii) Governance, Community & Religion, iii) DFATD’s Balochistan Youth Forum and iv) Balochistan Democracy Awareness Initiative v) USAID’s Moong Qabail vi) UNICEF’s My Story, Our Voice vii) IRI’s Constituency Hour viii) Deutsche Welle...
Munawar Ahmed Virk Director Finance, Administration & HR Munawar Ahmed Virk is responsible for the financial, administrative and human resource operations of CRSS. He also provides executive administrative support to the offices of Chairman and Executive Director of the organization. Mr. Munawar Ahmed Virk brings with him a combined professional and industry background gained from over 15 years of experience in financial "analysis internal audit" accounting and risk management in both the profit and non-profit sectors. Prior to joining CRSS, Mr. Virk was working as the Chief Financial Officer in Dynamic Crop Sciences (Pvt.) Ltd., one of the largest companies operating in the agriculture sector, where he was responsible for import, manufacturing, distribution and liaison with the government regulatory bodies. Mr. Virk has also worked with Pakistan largest cellular company Mobilink, Pepsi Cola International and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He has also worked and trained with M/s. A.F. Furguson & Co, which is the highest ranking Chartered Account firm in Pakistan.
Imtiaz Gul Executive Director Imtiaz Gul is the Executive Director of Center for Research and Security Studies that he founded in December 2007, with the support of Germany’s Heinrich Boell Stiftung. The Center is a research and advocacy outfit, focused primarily on security, radicalization and governance. He has been contributing to international and national print media; Foreign Policy, USA, Wall Street Journal, The Friday Times (weekly), Islamabad, Daily Express Tribune, on issues such as militancy, border regions, Afghanistan, and Indo-Pak relations. Besides offering advice as consultant to foreign diplomatic missions and development sector organizations, Gul regularly appears as an analyst/expert on Pakistani TV channels as well as the Doha-based Al-Jazeera English/Arabic satellite TV channel for his expertise in areas such as Afghanistan/Tribal Areas/ and the Kashmir militancy. Gul has presented papers and given talks at universities and international security and counter-terror conferences in Brussels, Tokyo, Berlin, New Delhi, Kabul, New York, Washington, the Hague, Riyadh, Italy, Oslo, Stockholm, Beijing, and has authored following books Pakistan: Before and After Osama bin Laden (Roli Books, India, September, 2012) The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan Lawless Frontier (Penguin US/UK June, 2010) Al-Qaeda Connection: Taliban and Terror in Tribal Areas (Penguin-Viking India, August 20, 2009) The Unholy Nexus: Pak-Afghan relations under the Taliban (Vanguard Books, Pakistan, July 2002) Pakistan: Pivot of Hizbut Tahrir’s Global Caliphate (2014) Gul has also been part of an international group, put together by the New York based Century Foundation, that authored the report “Jago Pakistan” (Wake Up Pakistan). He is a member of the Bellagio Forum, Milan, initiative for the establishment of a UN University for Peace and Social Studies, and also participated in a 2-month Asia Leaders Fellowship Program by International House of Japan and Japanese Studies and...
Zeeshan Salahuddin Senior Research Fellow, Director Programs and Strategy Zeeshan is a communications professional with experience in both public relations and media. Recently he made the switch to the development sector, and joined the CRSS family in November 2014. Previously, he has served at Express 24/7, Dunya News and Capital TV in varying management positions. He has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Writing, as well as a master's degree in Corporate Communications and Strategic Management from Ithaca College, NY. Zeeshan's research focuses on security studies, particularly religious and political extremism in Pakistan, and how this crisscrosses with human rights. Aside from driving The Center's research portfolio, Zeeshan is also responsible for operations, planning and execution of the CRSS project portfolio. He occasionally writes for The Friday Times, The Express Tribune, the World Policy Journal Blog, and Foreign Policy.
Quarterly Security Report – Q1, 2021
Casualties from Violence in Pakistan – Q1, 2021 Pakistan lost 196 persons in this first quarter of 2021, and another 42 were wounded. The erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) (now merged into Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) province) recorded the highest number of fatalities (67), followed by Balochistan (48), KP (35), Sindh (26), Punjab (18), and Islamabad (2). More than 70% of all fatalities were reported from KP (including ex. FATA), and Balochistan. Despite a significant progress in reducing the number of fatalities from violence over the last 6 years, violence related casualties seem concentrated in these two regions (table 01). No casualties were reported from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), or Gilgit Baltistan (GB). A marginal uptick in the number of fatalities was recorded during this quarter when compared with the last quarter’s figures. Former FATA was the only region where there was a sharp upsurge in violence (table 2). From a dip of 22% observed in January, the number of fatalities went up during the next two months. The highest surge was recorded in February that offset the gain that was observed in January (table 03). North and South Waziristan districts of KP (formerly FATA) experienced the highest number of fatalities during Q1, 2021 followed by Karachi, Peshawar, Machh, and Sibbi with double digit fatalities. A number of districts witnessed sudden surge in violence in Q1, 2021 like Rawalpindi, Kohlu, Killa Abdullah, and Chichawatani. Contrarily, some districts that suffered fatalities in Q4, 2020, reported no incident of violence in Q1, 2021 namely Awaran, Harnai, Panjgur, Kurram, and Mardan (table 4). Like the previous quarter, gun violence was a major cause of fatalities in this quarter as well. Intelligence based ground operations also continued to contribute to fatalities while other forms of violence like bomb explosions, armed attacks, and dumping of dead bodies after abduction (many missing for months) were also reported. Encounters...
Pakistan India Conflict Report October 16, 2016- February 25, 2021
By Senior Research Fellow M. Nafees The Center for Research and Security Studies Pakistan and India have reached a ceasefire agreement from 25 February 2021 onward. This brief report looks back at the losses on both sides in terms of human lives during this prolonged hostile period. Fatalities in Pakistan Between October 16, 2016 and February 25, 2021, Pakistan suffered 370 fatalities and 661 injuries due to the border conflicts. The highest fatalities from these skirmishes and attacks took place in 2019. During that year, India carried out an aerial attack inside Pakistan to target an alleged terrorist training camp at Balakot. An Indian plane was shot down by Pakistani forces, and its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was taken into custody for roughly 60 hours[1]. The following year, in 2020, a significant drop in fatalities from cross border attacks was recorded in Pakistan (table 1). [docxpresso file="https://crss.pk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Pakistan-India-Conflict-Report-CRSS-2021-CORRECTED-02.odt" comments="true" SVG="true"] [1] Staff Reporter. (2019, March 1). “Pakistan frees captured Indian pilot Abhinandan in peace gesture”. Dawn News. Retrieved April 1, 2021, from https://www.dawn.com/news/1466951.
Merely Believing is Not Enough, Must Welcome Rule of Law When its Applied Indiscriminately: CTO Peshawar
Everyone is equally accountable before and subject to law regardless of socio-political or economic backgrounds. Merely believing in the notion of rule of law is not enough. Being welcoming to the indiscriminate application of law is equally important. These views were expressed by the senior KP police official, Mr. Abbas Majeed Khan Marwat, currently posted as Chief Traffic Officer, Peshawar, during the 32nd round of Ulasi Taroon Youth Capacity Building Workshops, held online by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS). Mr. Marwat said that despite all the public grievances against police, it is still one of the most accountable institutions of Pakistan manifest in the departmental actions against and punishments to the police officials in response to public complaints. The role of Dispute Resolution Councils (DRC) - as an alternative dispute resolution and grievance redressal mechanism- has been monumental in addressing the public grievances and ultimately lowering the burden on the judicial system. Advocate Ali Gohar, said that the critical thinking is about making judgments and decisions based on facts. Only by analyzing these facts, can we draw logical inferences and reach meaningful decisions. While it is important for every member of the society, the art of critical thinking is especially important for students as future leaders. They can develop and further hone this skill by interacting with other students from diverse backgrounds. Only by openness and thinking outside the box, can we generate new knowledge and the best we can do for our future leaders is to develop this potential among them. Great ideas can come from anyone, but we should be listening. Openness only means willing to be open and listening to new/ different ideas. Critical thinking also demands to think beyond ourselves and our personal interests. This is how we can also cultivate a socially inclusive society and is especially important during the times of crises, where citizens...
The Chinese Miracle: Lessons for Pakistan
China is famous in the world for its remarkable transformative story in the history of the world’s economic affairs. The economic progress and development China witnessed in the late 20th and early 21st century is considered a miracle in itself. The rapid economic growth exhibited by China wasn’t only due to its political and structural strength but the social and cultural components also played a significant role. One of the most striking feature of the Chinese economic development program was its inclusivity for women. It seems like China realized the need for gender equality far before the rest of the world, and is now reaping its fruit in the form of its matchless economic, social and cultural development. The first step China took was to encourage its women to act as the economic motor of the country. This was done by bringing wholesome structural, legislative and normative changes in the system. Firstly, the Chinese transformed the family and marriage system. There are no two opinions on the fact that home is where women can become empowered first to be able to move out in the public space and achieve growth and success. China, introduced introduced policies like the new marriage law- which forbade arranged and forced marriages – and shifted the focus away from the dominance of men and onto the interests of children and women. China also banned the traditions of polygamy, gave individuals the right to divorce, made compulsory the act of family planning, and forbade mercenary marriages in which a bride price or dowry is paid. The second important step taken by the Chinese was the implementation of one child policy, which allowed each married couple to bear only one child except in the case of special circumstances. The policy didn’t only help China in taming the ticking bomb of population surge, but also helped in ensuring and securing the health and productivity of the Chinese women. Moreover, having less children allowed Chinese women to focus on world...
EHSAAS: Empowering Females Economically
The PTI government's EHSAAS Program was initiated to alleviate poverty across the country. The program pursues a 50%+ policy where more than 50 percent quota is reserved for females in all initiatives, to empower them economically along with assisting and encouraging them to become economically active.
Equality and Equity in Education
A news item concerning WCCKP shared the establishment of an advisory unit on International Women’s Day 2021. The said unit will support the female entrepreneurs regarding tax payments, and registrations at the concerned forums. I don’t know how practical the idea is and how effectively it will be implemented as the inclusion of women in economic activities is yet a challenge and there is still minimal visibility of women due to multiple barriers like patriarchy, cultural norms, economy, and most importantly the unconscious gender biases. As per certain researches, women are scarcely represented rather underrepresented as it’s a mere six percent representation in a leadership capacity with male counterparts heading the 96 percent companies across the globe. Entrepreneurship business is being labelled as male oriented in our society and, lack of support from family due to the cultural restrictions on mobility of women. One of the most important blockades is the Educational system. Female involvement in socio-economic domains is the hallmark of advanced and industrialized societies. Our Islamic History has the example of Hazrat Khadija as a businesswoman, that’s all that we can learn about women in business from my system of education regarding economic participation of women. Trade is purely taken to be a man’s affair. It is indeed a bad luck that in our country, almost half the population is not allowed to share the economic gains and restricted to economic participation at all levels. Our society has traditional roles for women and the literacy rate for women is among the lowest in the world. Empowerment begins with education and awareness and therefore education is a must for all women to prove themselves as a successful mother, wife, and co-worker but also successful in the nontraditional roles to contribute their due part in the socio-economic development. The contemporary multi streamed system of education i.e. public, private, and religious seminaries seem...
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TESTIMONIALS
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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.