Zainab Akhter is Research Analyst – Pak Digest at Manohar Parrikar Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Click here for detailed profile.
In general, the contemporary and historical narrative of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is mostly woven through the prism of Kashmir issue, disregarding comprehensive information about strategically important regions like Ladakh and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). In the study of India–Pakistan relations, most scholars and analysts tend to overlook GB, which explains the sparse literature on and information about the region.
With a failing foreign policy and a crippling economy, and growing domestic opposition as well as criticism within the army, Imran Khan and his government is clearly caught between the devil and the deep sea.
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on Pakistan’s Policy on India, titled ‘Imran Khan Going Through Hard Times’ has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on October 06, 2019.
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on Ladakh, titled ‘Union Territory status for Ladakh: Understanding the politics’ has been published in ‘Asia Dialogue’, an online magazine of the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute, on September 19, 2019.
The new Union Territory of Ladakh will need a unique approach so that it can manage its regional development while at the same time taking into account the sensitivities of its environment, customs and culture, writes Dr. Akhter.
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on India’s stand on Kashmir at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), titled ‘India’s Strong Rebuttal at the 42nd UNHRC Meeting’ has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on September 12, 2019.
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on Pakistan, titled ‘Pakistan Cracking Down on Voices of Dissent’ has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on June 20, 2019.
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on minorities in Pakistan, titled ‘Persecution of Minorities in Pakistan Continues’ was published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on May 29, 2019.
The Pakistani minorities are facing the wrath of the country’s discriminatory policy at the hands of the government as well as prejudice and victimization at the hand of people at large, especially the right-wing extremists, writes Dr Akhter.
State sponsorship of terrorism is a complex and often ignored subject in contemporary security studies discourses. As stated by the British military historian Adrian Weale and noted in the foreword of Islamism and Intelligence in South Asia, ‘[i]nternational terrorism rarely happens without a state sponsor, directly or indirectly’ (p. x). Covert and overt support to terrorist groups to fulfil the state’s interest was a feature of international terrorism in the 1960s and 1970s.
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on the attack on famous Sufi shrine Data Darbar in Lahore, titled ‘The Data Darbar Suicide Attack’ has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on May 10, 2019.
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on Lok Sabha elections in Ladakh, titled ‘Elections in Ladakh: Internal fault lines’ has been published in the opinion section of ‘Rising Kashmir’ on May 05, 2019.
In Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, Ladakh is the largest Lok Sabha constituency area wise and is divided into four broader constituencies, Leh, Nubra, Kargil and Zanskar. The politics in the region is complicated due to internal fault-lines and underneath simmering communal tension between Kargil and Leh, writes Dr. Akhter.
Is Imran Khan’s Luck Running Out?
With a failing foreign policy and a crippling economy, and growing domestic opposition as well as criticism within the army, Imran Khan and his government is clearly caught between the devil and the deep sea.