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 …

    Herald Report Some 300 children from four villages in the Vahdat district of Tajikistan must make a treacherous journey to school, walking between three and four kilometers every day, each way. Some wade through a river, but when the waters rise, they must cross a high, rickety suspension bridge, says a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) report. Vahdat …

The position of women rests, as everything in our complex society, on an economic base.—Eleanor Marx and Edward Aveling by Margaret Benston The “woman question” is generally ignored in analyses of the class structure of society. This is so because, on the one hand, classes are generally defined by their relation to the means of production and, on the other hand, women are …

https://www.youtube.com/embed/XV_DakljtmQ HAH Report A group of socially-conscious documentary makers has documented the life, social setting, culture and collective struggle of a community in Punjab’s Chiniot District and how they are leading a happy life, making collective efforts to address social and climate change issues through music, art, and sports. Laila and Zarrak are filmmakers and social activists. They are making …

Its a great news for snow leopards and local herding communities: the Mongolian government has decided to expand the Tost Nature Reserve in the country’s South Gobi province by 150 sq.km, says Snow Leopard Trust newsletter. In doing so, the government also revoked a mining license that had threatened a water source that is critical for people and wildlife. Herald …

by Karim Ullah The Khor bridge: Perhaps, one of the longest suspension bridges in the region, the 1,200ft bridge was built in 1999 by the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) with the financial assistance of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) which connects four mountainous villages in remote Sheshi Khor valley. Earlier people of the surrounding four valleys used to cross …

Raza Naeem on the enduring appeal of Sibte Hasan’s ‘Mazi Ke Mazar’, 50 years after it was written   by Raza Naeem In our part of the world, the life of books is too short – not unlike an untimely death in infancy. It is a small mercy if a book manages to live for four or five years, but it …

View of K-2 & Mashabrum from Sonmotawa Machulu  by Seema Mir SKARDU: The natural beauty of Baltistan Division of Gilgit-Baltistan is beyond description. The unique landscape comprising highest cold desert, glaciers, lakes, streams, lofty mountain ranges — Karakorum and Himalayas — and the mighty River Indus makes it one of the best global tourist destination attracting a large number of …

Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro offers a portrait of the village of Immit in Ghizer district by Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro While going to Iskhoman, one passes by Gahkuch town, the headquarters of Ghizer district. It is also the main stop for Shandur, Yasin, Gupis and Ishkoman valleys. Ishkoman is one of the four tehsil of Ghizer district. The other three are Punial, …

A documentary by an award-winning Pakistani filmmaker shows the lives of traditional musicians, musical instrument makers and the challenges they face by Omair Ahmad Indus Blues is an aural and visual delight, and it is no wonder it is winning, and being nominated for, a slew of awards. A 75 minute documentary on the folk musicians of Pakistan by the young filmmaker …