Patriarchy is the name given to a dynamic web of ideas, policies, laws, and social practices that bring male domination and privilege into effect. It manifests in constrained opportunities for women, writes Dr Shenila Khoja-Molji. During a recent interview with a Pakistani TV channel, organisers of the ‘Aurat March’ noted that they were marching against ‘patriarchy’. Many of them have …

Herald Report Lahore:  Noted poet and columnist Harris Khalique has been appointed secretary general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), a premier writes body of Pakistan. “We are delighted to announce that Harris Khalique has been appointed secretary general of the organization,” the HRCP said in a press statement on Friday. Mr Khalique succeeds I.A. Rehman, a noted …

FAYYAZ Chohan, the improbably titled — now former — Punjab minister for information and culture, has once again demonstrated his boundless capacity for uncouthness and bigotry. A video of him has emerged on social media that shows him making vile, derogatory remarks against Hindus in his trademark combative style. The occasion was an event in Lahore on Feb 24, and …

Struggles past and present show the left how we can make the connection between the fight for women’s rights and the struggle for economic and social equality. FOR YEARS, International Women’s Day on March 8 would pass by without notice in the U.S. beyond a small number of leftists. Most people who noticed on their calendar probably assumed it had …

From Brazil under Jair Bolsonaro to Hungary led by Viktor Orbán, women’s reproductive rights are being targeted Afua Hirsch When Brazil, where I am writing from this week, became worried that almost two-thirds of its population was black or mixed race, radical steps were taken. Never mind that the blackness of its population was thanks to its own dependence on …

Editorial IT is exactly a year ago that one of the bravest daughters of Pakistan, Asma Jahangir, passed away suddenly and quietly. A redoubtable defender of human rights and democratic values, champion of the downtrodden, and fierce opponent of repressive forces, she was, true to form, fighting the good fight to the end. Even today, indeed especially today, her voice …

News Desk JAMSHORO: Women’s rights activists turned up in large numbers on Saturday at a talk on ‘Redefining consent’ as feminists discussed what “consent” meant on the part of women and that it needed to be redefined considering the fact that it was usually a woman’s powerlessness that was taken as her “consent” by tormentors. Women’s rights activist and writers, …

Editorial Even as the investigation into the Sahiwal incident continues, the country has witnessed yet another example of not so dissimilar a brutality. This past Saturday, civil and political rights activist and a college professor Arman Loni died in Loralai, reportedly after or while being beaten up by the police. Ironically, this happened at a peaceful protest by civil rights …

Protesters call for an end to intimidation of progressive political activists and removal of names of Allama Hassan Johari, Shahzad Agha, Shabbir Mayar and others from ATA’s Schedule Four. HAH Report ISLAMABAD: Political and youth activists and progressive parties continue to protest for immediate checkup and treatment of imprisoned political leader Baba Jan and against intimidation of progressive and nationalist …

 Amir Hussain Languishing in Gahkuch jail in Gilgit-Baltistan, progressive political leader Baba Jan’s appeal to the prime minister of Pakistan to allow medical examination  and treatment for cardiac disease has gone unnoticed. Baba Jan is undisputedly the most popular political leader of Gilgit-Baltistan, serving a life sentence on multiple counts of concocted political cases. Baba Jan, along with 11 political …