Political Assassinations in Pakistan with Special Reference to the Mystery of the Murder of Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao, 1975

During Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's term as Prime Minister, the law and order situation deteriorated throughout the country in general, and in the provinces of NorthWest Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Balochistan in particular. For multiple reasons, the mutual distrust between Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the political leaders of the respective provinces never allowed them to overcome their personal and party interests and establish a harmonious working relationship. Accusations of conspiracy, worsening law and order, and political assassinations, were the dilemmas that agitated the whole country. One of the victims of the political assassination was Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao, a leading activist of the Pakistan People's Party and former Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The incident of his murder commenced the series of legal disputes and cases of treason filed against the opposition leaders in courts and tribunals, which marred the political scenario of the country till the very end of the Bhutto era. The lack of research on political assassinations in Pakistan is a crucial oversight, especially considering the frequency of the phenomenon and its implications. This study attempts to highlight the main theoretical and political implications of assassinations and identifies some promising directions for further research, in the hope that this unique type of political violence will be better understood in the future.

Comparison of Cardiometabolic Risk Profile Between Hiv Patients on Art and Those Who are Art Naïve

Background: Metabolic syndrome comprises of a set of aggregated risk factors that include: hypertension, central obesity, impaired fasting glucose, hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL-C (1)The is a noted increase in the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome cardiovascular risk factors in the HIV population. Methods: The study is a cross-sectional survey that enrolled 157 HIV positive patients over a 4 month period that were either newly diagnosed (HIV ART naïve) or were on ART from both the inpatient and outpatient setting. Data of their anthropometric, cardiovascular risk factors and clinical characteristics were collected with the aid of a standardized questionnaire and serum biochemical testing was done in the fasted state. The data obtained was used to determine the presence or absence of the metabolic syndrome in the two populations using the NCEP ATP III criteria and their 10 year risk of adverse cardiovascular outcome using the WHO/ISH AFRI E score. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 46 years S.D (9.3). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 23.75% and 11.69% in the ART arm and ART naïve arm respectively. Majority of the patients were in the low risk category as calculated by the WHO/ISH AFRI E score 89.61% vs. 91.25% in the naïve and ART arms respectively. 6.49% and 3.89% in HIV ART naïve arm were distributed in the moderate and very high risk categories as compared 6.25% and 2.5% in the HIV ART arm. Conclusions and recommendations: Metabolic syndrome was found to be more prevalent in the HIV ART arm as compared to the naïve arm although the difference did not reach a statistically significant level. Majority of the individuals as by WHO/ISH AFRI E risk score in both arms were found to be in the low risk category and thus would greatly benefit from diet and lifestyle modification to avert the risk of developing metabolic syndrome and subsequent cardiovascular disease..