...Saleem Khan, London Metropolitan University, Religious Nationalism and Sectarianism in Pakistan Introduction Since the American occupation of Iraq, intra-Muslim violence has become daily news but prior to 2003, Pakistan not Iraq was the global centre for violent conflict between different Muslim sects. In 1947, British India was divided on religious lines and two nation-states India and Pakistan emerged. The British educated founding fathers of Pakistan perceived a united India as being detrimental to Muslims because as a minority Muslims would be not be recognized as equals by the Hindu majority state which would also suppress their rights so the concept of Pakistan was formulated as a nation-state where some aspects of liberal democracy would be implanted so that fairness and non-interference would be the norm. In the 1970s partly because of violent challenges to the state by ethno-nationalist movements partly inspired by uneven economic development and the upheavals in the international arena due to the Cold War, there was a major shift away from pluralistic politics and a move towards greater Islamisation beginning with the narrowing of the definition of a Muslim by the state in which the state gave up its neutrality. Additional government legislation imposing uniform religious taxes widen sectarian differences between the Sunni majority and Shia minority. By not initially accommodating Shia collective demands the state had alienated many of them. The subsequent and...
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...Making things worse in the Middle East Over the past few months, the Middle East has become an even more violent place than usual. Iraq is now once again home to one of the most bloody civil wars in the world, after Syria of course, which is the worst. Watching these horrors unfold, many in the United States are convinced that this is Washington’s fault or that, at the very least, the Obama administration’s “passive” approach toward the region has allowed instability to build. In fact, the last thing the region needs is more U.S. intervention. The Middle East is in the midst of a sectarian struggle, like those between Catholics and Protestants in Europe in the age of the Reformation. These tensions are rooted in history and politics and will not easily go away. Three factors have led us to this state of affairs. First, the structure of Middle Eastern states. The modern Middle East was created by the colonial powers at the end of World War I. The states the British and French created, often with little forethought, were composed of disparate groups that had no history of being governed as one entity. Iraq, for example, was formed by putting together three Ottoman provinces that had little in common. The colonial powers often chose a set of rulers who came from a minority group. (It was a cunning strategy. A minority regime always needs the help of some outside force to rule.) Thus the French, when facing a nationalist insurgency in Syria in the 1930s and 1940s, recruited...
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...of the majority-Christian Phalange Party Pierre Gemayel declared “Neither the present government or any other could shut down a single training camp,” in reference to bases created by several parties to train their armed factions. A year later, Gemayal’s Phalange Party was one of several Lebanese militias embroiled in a war where fighting remained confined within Lebanon but the power struggle transcended borders and involved both regional and international combatants. While April 13, 1975, is often cited as the start date that sparked the 15-year conflict, which has been termed a civil war, a host of factors, including international affairs, economic and social inequality and the sectarian make up of the Lebanese government were responsible for the violent outburst and the war’s duration. The Phalange Party’s April 13 attack on a bus carrying Palestinians, reprisal for a shoot out at a church where Phalange members had been in attendance, was not even mentioned in the relevant chapters on the civil war in Struggle Over Lebanon by Tabitha Petran. Instead, Petran documents the factors that contributed to the setting of the stage for and provoking the civil war. Fear over the increase in sectarian militias had been on the national radar as early as May 1973, when President Suleiman Franjieh convened a special cabinet meeting to discuss possible reforms to curb the militias. Petran begins by listing the increased demands of the Sunni population of Lebanon, which began clamoring...
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...The 1830s and 40s Horace Mann, the End of Free-Market Education, and the Rise of Government Schools During the three decades preceding the Civil War, two significant developments occurred in popular education in the United States. The first is that the foundations were laid for a governmental takeover of education, and the second is that the historical role of schools in transmitting religious traditions gave way to more secular goals. The educational reform movement that marked the turning point in United States educational history originated in, and was dominated by, the example of Massachusetts and its political leaders, particularly Horace Mann. Horace Mann was born to a family of farmers in Franklin, Massachusetts, on May 4, 1796. His lineage included some of the earliest Puritan settlers who practiced a "severe brand of Calvinism."[19] At the age of twelve, the bookish and introspective Mann rejected Calvinism and focused his attention on educating himself. He graduated from Brown University in 1819 and, following law school in Connecticut, became a practicing attorney in Boston in 1825. Mann's interest in politics and law and his views and skills as an orator soon catapulted him into the Massachusetts legislature. It was as president of the State Senate that he became intimately involved in the movement to concentrate control of education in the hands of state. The fight to bring education under the control of government was essentially a fight over the schools'...
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...remain involved in the peace process between Saudi Arabia and Iran?” In the last few years, especially since the outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria in early 2013, the Middle East has gradually moved towards a sectarian regional political order.The surge in sectarian fighting between Shi’ites and Sunnis in Iraq. Syria and Yemen, the proclamation of the Islamic state by Sunni militants in 2014 and the competition of power and dominance between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran have increasingly come to define and shape the current Middle Eastern political order. Saudi Arabia and Iran are both muslim majority nations but relations prevailing between them have been affected mainly because of different geopolitical issues which are sectarianism which includes different interpretations and leadership issues over the Islamic world, oil export policy and relations with western countries such as US. After the Islamic revolution, relations between both the countries ran down because Iran indicted Saudi Arabia for having relations with US. Iran wanted to adopt westernized culture which was opposed by the Saudis whereas on the other hand the king of Saudi thought that Islamic solidarity would be something that would actually make both of the countries unite. The rebels in Yemen killed two Saudi guards which infused the Sunni government of Yemen. They accused Iran that the houthis shouldn’t have been armed due to which in retaliation Iran said that Saudi Arabia shouldn’t have intervened...
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...From Ethnic Conflict to Genocide Individuals are mostly identified by their religion, culture, race and most importantly, their ethnicity. They would be labeled by what country or race they represent. Over the past decades, many ethnic conflicts have occurred and are still occurring in the world today due to political reasoning. When there are at least two ethnic communities called multiethnic or multisectarian, who realize they cannot form their own independent countries, they would change their geographical locations. But there is no guarantee that both ethnic groups will solve their conflicts by moving in different parts of the region. Each ethnic group competes for power, authority, resources and political independence, which lead up to deep conflicts between ethnic groups and even dehumanization. Each ethnic conflict is associated with deep emotions such as hatred, bitterness, resentment, anger and aggression. Political leaders play a significant role in identifying ethnicities. Such leaders commit violent acts for the sake of their group and victimize their followers. There are also political extremists who are only self-concerned and tend to disregard others’ lives through horrific actions. According to political psychologists, extremists have a variety of personal characteristics. They are not mentally sick. They are insane and are capable of evil behavior because they do not have any empathy for anybody. In Milgram’s experiment on power of authority, personality...
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...In considering the process of change in the development of Irish Nationalism between the years 1815 and 1922, how far can the Potato Famine (1845-49) be seen as a turning point? Irish nationalism has been said to have changed hugely during the period of 1815 to 1922 in which the movement of nationalism took many changes in directions to complete a vast range of goals including fair rent and Home Rule. These changes were caused by different turning points along the way of which the Potato Famine has been said a key one. The Potato Famine did cause change to an extent but was not alone in the changing in direction of the Irish nationalist movement as other turning points contributed such as Catholic Emancipation, and the first Home Rule bill which both changed the objectives and strategies of the nationalist movement to an extent. The Potato Famine can be seen as a turning point in the change of Irish Nationalism as it was the first time the country had collectively focused on campaigning for cultural nationalism and this suddenly came about due to the catastrophic changes the famine had on the majority of the classes in Ireland, especially amongst the lower-class. It not only created a deep-seated hatred towards Britain amongst the Catholic population, but also had the devastating effect on the Irish population. It led to the death of approximately one million people and, by 1850, to the emigration of a further one and a half million. It accelerated a prolonged reversal of...
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...Global Community Failure to Eradicate Genocide Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Abstract When it comes to global criminology, the subject is fatal in the sense of reprisals accustomed to it. In any case, international criminal activities are largely based geopolitical factors rather than the genuine purpose of ending human to human barbarism. This paper will attempt to prove that ‘global community’ commitment to end genocide events is categorically challenged by lack of sufficient devotion to ‘the pledge’ to eradicate the vice. The paper is structured into three main parts and one secondary part. The background will attempt to examine the scholarly effort attempting to relate the basis of global community pledge and the general act of genocide. A further sub category of this part will introduce the role played by United Nations in minimizing genocide. The second section will be substantial in analyzing past genocide events; courtesy of three relevant examples, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Rwanda. In this section, the document will examine the various roles played by United Nations in fueling the genocide. The third section will examine 21 century events, and how United Nations has chosen a back player in preventing the occurrences of these genocides. The secondary section will attempt to examine the role played by International Criminal Court and how it has been challenged in limiting genocide events. Background Research has attempted relate the end of the holocaust and the emergence...
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...PEACE EDUCATION Is … Reminding someone to look through the eyes of another the way to everlasting a ray of hope the answer to laugh experiencing rights and responsibilities work for a better world cultivating critical thinking developing the capacity to love building trusting relationship in our hands EMPOWERMENT living in coexistence transformation the basis of social justice to create equality and dignity recognizing and appreciating differences a step towards reconciliation a major piece of education self-revelation a process of exploring the true possibilities of mankind uncovering the common thread of humanity the opportunity to think differently GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD peace . It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hardwork. It means to be in the middle of those things and still be calm in your heart. Educate a generation. Rebuild a nation. FROM HARM TO HOME. Our education support is a key part of these comprehensive program to renew dignity and self-reliance, for the people all over the WORLD. INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES FOR PEACE We need a school and teachers for our community. We should think about those who make the future. They need a peaceful environment. We are interested to be educated. We are reading in sunshine. We have neither books nor school buildings...
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...The Nobel Prize in Literature 1913 Rabindranath Tagore Tagore and His India by Amartya Sen* Voice of Bengal Rabindranath Tagore, who died in 1941 at the age of eighty, is a towering figure in the millennium-old literature of Bengal. Anyone who becomes familiar with this large and flourishing tradition will be impressed by the power of Tagore's presence in Bangladesh and in India. His poetry as well as his novels, short stories, and essays are very widely read, and the songs he composed reverberate around the eastern part of India and throughout In contrast, in the rest of the world, especially in Europe and America, the excitement that Tagore's writings created in the early years of the twentieth century has largely vanished. The enthusiasm with which his work was once greeted was quite remarkable. Gitanjali, a selection of his poetry for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, was published in English translation in London in March of that year, and had been reprinted ten times by November, when the award was announced. But he is not much read now in the West, and already by 1937, Graham Greene was able to say: "As for Rabindranath Tagore, I cannot believe that anyone but Mr. Yeats can still take his poems very seriously." The Mystic The contrast between Tagore's commanding presence in Bengali literature and culture, and his near-total eclipse in the rest of the world, is perhaps less interesting than the distinction between the view of Tagore...
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...The Subtle Subversion The State of Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan Urdu, English, Social Studies and Civics (DRAFT COPY) compiled by A. H. Nayyar and Ahmed Salim Sustainable Development Policy Institute Report of the project “A Civil Society Initiative in Curricula and Textbooks Reform” A project of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute #3, UN Boulevard, Diplomatic Enclave I, Islamabad Mailing Address: PO Box 2342, Islamabad, Pakistan Telephone: ++(92-51) 2278134, 2278136, 2270674-6 Fax:++(92-51) 2278135 URL: www.sdpi.org e-mail: main@sdpi.org SDPI is an independent, non-profit research institute on sustainable development Partial support from Eqbal Ahmed Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. 2 Contents Summary Recommendations Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Introduction Insensitivity to the Religious Diversity of the Nation Appendix 1-1: Listing of Material in Curriculum Documents Appendix 1-2: Listing of Material in Textbooks Historical Falsehoods and Inaccuracies Glorification of War and the Military Omissions That Could Have Been Enriching Pedagogical Problems in Primary Education: A Critique of the Curriculum Gender Biases Human Rights Teaching of Urdu, Class 6 to 10 Teaching Social Studies, Class 6 to 10 Peace Studies: a proposed program of studies in schools Curriculum Documents Covered Thoughts on Curriculum Objectives List of participants in the project i iii 1 9 27 53 65 77 89 95 101 111 123 127 131 135 137 139 Chapter 3 Chapter...
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...William and Mary Law Review Volume 49 | Issue 4 Article 16 Constitution Writing in Post-conflict Settings: An Overview Jennifer Widner Repository Citation Jennifer Widner, Constitution Writing in Post-conflict Settings: An Overview, 49 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1513 (2008), http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol49/iss4/16 Copyright c 2008 by the authors. This article is brought to you by the William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository. http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr CONSTITUTION WRITING IN POST-CONFLICT SETTINGS: AN OVERVIEWt JENNIFER WIDNER* During the past forty years, over 200 new constitutions have emerged in countries at risk of internal violence. Internationally brokered peace accords have entailed the development of constitutions not only in the Balkans but also in Cambodia, Lebanon, East Timor, Rwanda, Chad, Mozambique, Bougainville-Papua New Guinea, Nepal, the Comoros, and other places.' New constitutions have heralded the adoption of multiparty systems from Albania to Zambia. 2 Policymakers have started to ask what we have learned and specifically whether some constitutional reform processes are more likely than others to deliver a reduction in violence or more rights-respecting fundamental documents. For example, over the past decade, the Commonwealth, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and t This Article draws in part on WIDER Research Paper 2005/51 and is published with the kind permission of the UNU-WIDER. * Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton...
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...Human rights violations Project in Social Studies Mick Joshua Ilano IV-Mercy Human rights violation in the Philippines. On January 18, 2013, Aquino signed a landmark law, Republic Act No. 10361, designed to protect the rights of the country’s estimated 1.9 million domestic workers. The Philippines also ratified the International Labor Organization’s Domestic Workers Convention No. 189, which would help protect the rights of the 1.5 million Filipino domestic workers abroad. The Aquino administration, however, has not made significant progress on its pledge to expedite the investigation and prosecution extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances, among other serious violations of human rights. The number of extrajudicial killings has dropped significantly since Aquino took office, but politically motivated killings are still frequently reported and the murder of petty criminals by “death squads” in urban areas continues unabated. Only two cases of extrajudicial killings have resulted in convictions in the past three years, and even in those cases, the individuals believed most responsible for the killings have not faced justice. The government took some steps to set up an inter-agency committee in 2013 to help investigate and prosecute high-profile extrajudicial killings, but it was not yet operational at time of writing. Harassment of and violence against leftist political activists and environmentalists continues. Insurgency and Ethnic Conflicts In...
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...ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I express my sincere thanks to my project guide Mrs. for guiding me right from the inception till the successful completion of the project. I sincerely acknowledge her for extending their valuable guidance, support for literature, critical review for project and the report and above all the moral support she provided me with all stages of this project. I would also like to thank the supporting facilities of my institute, department for their help and co-operation throughout my project. MBA PART-1 Sem.-II INTRODUCTION Terrorism has given up as global threat and terrorists have free flow of information, communication, Information Technology and so forth. Threats from terrorist groups have grown alarmingly and pose a greater challenge to nations. Terrorists conduct their activities with the aim of destruction. The fear of terrorism is looming large in our daily life. There are innumerable incidents of such fear and insecurity. Terrorists attacks has its impact globally –be it tourism, Gross domestic product, medical industry, productivity, aviation industry, stock market etc. Terrorism creates feeling of hatredness, frustration and panic...
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...The campaign for suffrage - a historical background Today, all British citizens over the age of eighteen share a fundamental human right: the right to vote and to have a voice in the democratic process. But this right is only the result of a hard fought battle. The suffrage campaigners of the nineteenth and early twentieth century struggled against opposition from both parliament and the general public to eventually gain the vote for the entire British population in 1928. ------------------------------------------------- Who took part in the campaign? The first women's suffrage bill came before parliament in 1870. Soon after its defeat, in 1897, various local and national suffrage organisations came together under the banner of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) specifically to campaign for the vote for women on the same terms 'it is or may be granted to men'. The NUWSS was constitutional in its approach, preferring to lobby parliament with petitions and hold public meetings. In contrast, the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), formed in 1903, took a more militant view. Almost immediately, it characterised its campaign with violent and disruptive actions and events. Together, these two organisations dominated the campaign for women's suffrage and were run by key figures such as the Pankhurstsand Millicent Fawcett. However, there were other organisations prominent in the campaign, including the Women's Freedom League (WFL). These groups were often...
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