By Ghulam Amin Beg The old Indian narrative on Jammu and Kashmir of a democratic dispensation, constitutionally guaranteed local autonomy and unique status has disappeared overnight. Thanks to the fascist actions of Prime Minister Modi and the BJP government last year. The new status quo in Kashmir has created a new narrative for both pro-Indian and nationalist Kashmiris as well …

General elections for the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) will be held on November 15, according to a summary moved by the government and approved by President Arif Alvi. The notification comes amid a plethora of rumours in power corridors on the constitutional status of the disputed region triggering a debate in mainstream and social media.

Herald Report Islamabad: Pakistan’s top court on Friday threw out the presidential reference against senior judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa in a case that was widely seen as pitting the country’s judiciary against its government and powerful armed forces. “[The reference] is declared to be of no legal effect whatsoever and stands quashed,” read the majority (9-1) short verdict on …

Herald Special Correspondent ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top court on Tuesday put on notice the advocate general and government of Gilgit-Baltistan on a petition filed by the Federal government seeking an amendment to the election laws to hold polls in the region. The seven-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, issued notice to the GB government and its top counsel for Thursday to …

By Mesum Qasmi   Bureaucracy has three major roles to play: maintain social order, implement laws and policies framed by the legislature and regulate government functionaries’ working. It is fortified by and draws power and authority from the constitution to regulate and ensure administrative measures. Being the frontline officers to serve the public, bureaucrats need to create goodwill and friendly …

Report on the 10-year review of anti-harassment laws highlights, achievements, challenges   High Asia Herald Islamabad: There has been a marked shift in the stance of people and institutions towards reporting and discussing sexual harassment incidents since the passage of the first law ten years ago, says the findings of a report. It emphasizes parliamentarians to ensure strict monitoring and …

The coalition of social media tech giants and legal experts have alarmed that the new regulation will curb political dissent, harm privacy, and online business   High Asia Herald Report   Islamabad:  Human rights and media watchdogs as well as lawyers, citizens and a global technology coalition have hit out at government’s new measures to regulate social media platforms and …

The audience at the first Asma Jehangir memorial lecture organised by the HRCP at Islamabad Hotel on Tuesday. Credit: Asif Khan/hrcp HRCP announces Asma Jahangir Award for human rights defenders; resumes Nisar Osmani Award for courage in journalism, and I.A Rehman research grant in human rights   By Amir Khan  Islamabad: A veteran human rights defender has called for a …

Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, and her party supporters attend a protest march against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and a new citizenship law, in Kolkata, India, December 16, 2019. Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri Fiction in time of fake news. Below is the text of the 2020 Clark Lecture in English Literature instituted by Trinity College, Cambridge. We …

High Asia Herald Report   Islamabad: A Senate panel on Monday observed that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has no jurisdiction to regulate web TV and over the top (OTT) content services. The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights called the PEMRA Chairman for a briefing about the authority’s recent proposal to regulate Web TV and OTT services. “(PEMRA) …

High Asia Herald Report   Islamabad: Civil society and women rights activists have condemned a resolution passed by the lower house of the parliament supporting capital punishment for those involved in sexual abuse. “We at Women Democratic Front condemn National Assembly’s resolution on #HangRapistsPublicly,” the socialist feminist movement said in a statement posted on its official Facebook page. Sexual barbarism is undoubtedly widespread, but …

Herald Report   The US invasion of Iraq was aimed at setting up permanent military bases there and to benefit energy corporations and weapons industry, comments Professor Noam Chomsky, an internationally acclaimed American linguist in a conversation with Hassan Mirza, published in The Express Tribune Blogs section. The conversation is based on correspondence between the two over a period of …

Speakers at HRCP seminar decry regression of democratic values, violations of fundamental rights, propose a broad-based coalition based on minimum people's agenda 

Herald Report As celebrities and TV anchors took to remembering General Pervez Musharraf as a military dictator whose progressive policies ultimately led to his own undoing, academics, and activists, including sociologists and historians, present their case against this caricature of Musharraf, says a report in The Nation newspaper. Ammar Ali Jan, an academic and activist who teaches at the Forman …

  Parliamentarians green-light bill that will legalise 20,000 stateless residents from former Soviet republics DUSHANBE: Tajik lawmakers have approved a bill on the mass legalization of stateless residents of the Central Asian nation from other former Soviet republics. According to the bill approved on December 11, some 20,000 illegal residents, many of whom settled in Tajikistan shortly before and after …