by TIM STRANGLEMAN Neither faith in, nor critiques of the idea of meritocracy is new. Michael Young’s famous 1958 book The Rise of Meritocracy argued that class privilege and advantage were likely to be amplified as financial and cultural capital passed across generations in families. Each new generation would benefit from existing structural advantage created by their parents and even grandparents. They might …

By Ali Rehmat China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has strengthened decades-old Sino-Pak economic relations. The $60 billion CPEC project is part of the $5 trillion One Belt One Road (OBOR) that China considers as ‘project of the century’. OBOR links 68 countries and facilitates trade and connectivity in Asia, Europe, and Africa through mega projects of roads, bridges, energy, ports, railways …

Herald Report In a series of eight exceptional videos released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on the 100th day of a blackout on all communications in the Indian Occupied Kashmir Valley, RSF’s local correspondent interviews nine local journalists about the terrible constraints they have had to work under as a result of this blackout. “Imagine a journalist waking up with …

Abominable tells the story of a young girl living in Shanghai and a yeti Herald Report A newly released animated children’s film triggered a territorial controversy in South East Asia. A half-second blip in the film aggravated a decades-old geopolitical controversy in Southeast Asia in October, writes Grennan Milliken in the GlacierHub, an online news portal. The film about a lovable yeti and …

By Ghulam Amin Beg On Tuesday, September 14, 2010, I had written this article and published on the Simurgh Institute blog, which received several comments and further elaborations. The article analyzed the opinion post by Selig S. Harrison published in the New York Times in August the same year under the title, ‘China’s Discreet Hold on Pakistan’s Northern Borderlands’. Today, …

Herald Report As we celebrate the near four decades struggle launched by women activists for equal rights in Pakistani society and for democratic and secular values, there is a need to learn from past experiences, failures, successes and redefine the objectives, and direction of such movements in the face of emerging challenges like climate change, rising tide of extremism, authoritarianism …

They’re marauding our homes like a victorious army, say Kashmiris Herald Report Stories of brutality, violence, arrests, and intimidation of Kashmiris by Indian soldiers continue to appear in international media since the worst clampdown in the Indian-controlled part of the Himalayan state, last month. Despite a ban on communication and media, reports of torture, abuse, and arrest of Kashmiris especially …

At least 22 arrested after demonstrators clashed with police near Tatrinote village in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. News Desk Police have arrested at least 22 people at a pro-independence protest in Pakistan-administered Kashmir after clashes broke out between authorities and demonstrators, police and activists told media. The clashes took place on Saturday near the village of Tatrinote, about 80km south of the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, …

Gilgit-Baltistan has recently seen peace, tranquility and social harmony after being plagued by sectarian violence for nearly three decades. Amir Hussain Many people think that this peace and tranquility is schematic and short-lived rather than being systemic and long term in nature. Schematic because the peace and harmony has been attained without much political efforts at reconstructing the institutional structures …

Call for an end to militarisation, colonisation of all parts of Kashmir, arrests and torture of Kashmiri leaders and activists; resolution of conflict through dialogue   By Haider Ali Lahore: Leftist, feminist and student organizations have expressed deepest concerns over the annexation, militarization and occupation of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) against the will of the Kashmiri people, international laws on …