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.

Role of a Teacher in Facilitating Students Participation in Mathematical Tasks Through Questioning in a Primary Classroom

My experience of teaching of Mathematics in a rural context helped me realize that mathematics is considered as a set of prescribed procedures and rules, to be followed by a learner. This was deeply-rooted in my experience of exposure to Mathematics education. However, as a learner of Mathematics during my Master of Education (M. Ed.) at Aga Khan University-Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED), I realized that Mathematics is socially constructed knowledge. The prescribed rules are constructed by people in order to make sense of their activities related to daily life. So learning opportunities for learners to think, reason, and engage in Mathematical tasks, which they are exposed to, make them learn mathematical knowledge. Thus, my views about mathematics teaching changed radically. Hence, teachers play a crucial rule in educating students in Mathematics. This study was designed to explore how a teacher facilitates students' participation in Mathematical tasks through questioning, for meaningful learning of Mathematical concepts. This study was carried out in one of the co-operating schools of AKU-IED. The participant of the study was a female mathematics teacher with two years of teaching experience in Mathematics. She had not been to any pre-service teacher training programes but had attended two workshops (two weeks each); one was about teaching in general, while the other was focused on primary Mathematics teaching. The fieldwork lasted for seven weeks, during which I used an integrated range of qualitative research instruments; such as, semi-structured interviews, observations, post-observation discussion, and analysis of some of the available documents, such as textbooks and note books of the students. I also closely examined the students' understanding of particular mathematical concepts presented by the teacher during teaching. The data was analyzed based on teacher's views, actions and interactions with pupils in the class, through my own interpretation and analysis. Through focusing on a teacher's views and practices of students' participation in a Mathematics class, this study argues that teachers and students interact in class with the content of mathematics. Thus, teachers can play an important role in creating opportunities for students' participation in the class. Moreover, it highlights the influences of teacher's own experiences of Mathematics learning in facilitating students' participation in Mathematical tasks through questioning and meaningful learning of Mathematics. The study also highlights some of the issues regarding Mathematics planning and teaching that may interest other Mathematics teachers, teacher educators, teacher education programes, and research in education in