By Ajmal Masood The territory of Gilgit-Baltistan until seventies had been comprised of clusters of autonomous princely states including Hunza and Nager. The two sovereign states had never remained under suzerainty of Jammu and Kashmir. After the Partition of the Indian Sub-Continent, Hunza and Nager were the first states to announce their decision of accession to the federation of Pakistan …

By Amir Roshan As the sit-in and protests for the release of Awami Workers Party (AWP) leaders Baba Jan, Aleem Ahmed, Iftikhar Karbalai, and 11 other imprisoned comrades continue, more people pour into Aliabad to join the main dharna and express solidarity with the families and friends of the prisoners. The sit-in that started at Aliabad, the main town of …

Rizwan K. Qalandar Hunza sit-in for the release of 14 political prisoners incarcerating for over nine years in Damas jail in Ghizer District enters its fourth day. The prisoners of Hunza were convicted by an Anti-Terrorism Court under fabricated charges of sedition and terrorism for destroying government buildings during a massive protest triggered by shooting down of a man and …

Leaders of AWP, other parties have condemned the brutal murder of Professor Naeemuddin Khattak, a progressive academic in broad daylight in Peshawar and expressed solidarity with his family. The noted teacher was shot dead by unknown assailants on October 5 while he was leaving for home from his college. A delegation of the Awami Workers Party Party led by Deputy …

Family members, AWPGB call for polls boycott in GBLA-6 if Baba Jan and 11 other prisoners were not released High Asia Herald Report HUNZA: Family members of the prisoners of conscience have called for a boycott of the forthcoming elections for Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly in Hunza if Baba Jan and his 11 comrades were not released putting the mainstream parties in …

High Asia Herald Report Pakistan ranks the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women, with an alarming rise in cases of sexual crimes,domestic violence and kidnapping and honour crime. VAW is still endemic in Pakistan in a climate of impunity, state inaction, discriminatory legislation and a dysfunctional criminal justice system. On September 11, a woman was gang-raped on …

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 …

President Arif Alvi assents summary; govt weighs in on a proposal to give provisional province status to GB with representation in parliament High Asia Herald Report ISLAMABAD: 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 on Wednesday. The notification comes …

by Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed Contemporary states are territorial entities whom international law invests with sovereign right over their recognized territory within well-defined and demarcated borders. International law outlaws the violation of the territorial integrity of a state. The state enjoys the exclusive prerogative to exercise the monopoly of power over its territories and population. It means the right of states …

Covid-19 has exposed the myth of neoliberal free-market economic model Herald Report The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world is at breaking point, and the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the free market and deep divisions in society, calling for a new global deal to combat climate change, forced migration, diseases, patriarchy and racism. Inequality, an issue …

Beware splashy corporate gestures when they leave existing power structures intact. by Helen Lewis Tumbrels are rattling through the streets of the internet. Over the past few years, online-led social movements have deposed gropers, exposed bullies—and, sometimes, ruined the lives of the innocent. Commentators warn of “mob justice,” while activists exult in their newfound power to change the world. Both groups …

By Wajidul Islam   The National Finance Commission (NFC) is a resource-sharing mechanism between the federal government and federating units. It was constituted under Article 160(1) of the 1973 Constitution. It is mandatory to constitute and hold the NFC meeting in every five consecutive years. The purpose of the award is to review the collection of revenues by the Centre …

The renowned physicist took the decision after the FCC administration termed his contract ‘non-renewable’ After an eight-year-long association, Professor Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, an internationally renowned nuclear physicist, human rights and peace activist, on Friday resigned as Distinguished Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Forman Christian College (FCC), Lahore after the administration termed his contract “non-renewable”. He said that the resignation would take …

Ruhollah Zam, an Iranian journalist and activist whose online work helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017, has been sentenced to death for his actions following what Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called a “grossly unfair” trial. A Revolutionary Court “considered that the 13 charges [against Zam] were the equivalent of the charge of spreading ‘corruption on earth’ and therefore passed the death …

AIG informs the court that SP city has been suspended and inquiry initiated. all students released Herald Correspondent Quetta: Balochistan High Court has ordered an impartial inquiry into the arrest of students who were protesting peacefully against online classes here on Wednesday. The two-judge bench of the BHC headed by BHC Chief Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel with Justice Nazeer Ahmed Langov …