Honour Killing in the Light of Islamic Law and Prevailed Customs in Pakistan

 Islamic law consists hundreds of rulings that encourages the trends and cultural norms of a society in one or other. Similarly, it also strongly confine such mannerisms and social traits, though considers righteous and good, which affect the order of society and may the cause of rights exploitation of any gender.  Sharia’s Teachings counts it illegitimate & unlawful. “Honour Killing” is one of the prevailed custom across the nation with different local names, extremely brutal act, violating not only sharia’s law but also the reflection of mercilessness and inhumanity. Regrettably, in Pakistan this awful deed is measured as an act of appreciation and is not only regarded likeable and acceptable but also considered a thing to be proud of.  This study mainly focus on highlighting the sharia’s rulings about the nature of Honour killings along with disclosing distractions extent of prevailed custom from the main stream of Islamic law coupled with emphasis on administrative loopholes of the conventional justice system of Government of Pakistan in this regard.

Afghanistan-India Geopolitical Interests: Implications for Pakistan 2002-2014

The war-torn Afghanistan has long suffered from the dynastical contests and fraught economic strategies of foreigners, which instigated constant internal strife and regional instability. The foreign interventions have made this land sphere of influence and initiated the great game politics sporadically. The 9/11 incident is considered a yardstick in changing geopolitical scenario and security patterns not only in international arena but also in the canvas of Afghanistan. However, in this scenario, changes in geopolitical dynamics altered the nature and scope of the great game. Afghanistan conundrum has transformed into the international conflict with regional flavor, as the US de-hyphenated Pakistan and India in pursuit of it grand strategy of Global War on Terrorism and tilted towards India. As a result, India has gained influential role in Afghanistan on the basis of its soft power approach. Therefore, this study looks at the controversial nexus between Afghanistan and India, marked by strategic and economic determinants, and their implications for Pakistan under the tenure of Hamid Karzai through comparative and critical content analysis of primary and secondary sources under historical and retrospective-prospective study designs in qualitative approach. The dissertation attempts to examine the current geostrategic tussle in Afghanistan among different non-regional and regional players over control and manipulation of Afghanistan and its surrounding regions through the lens of conceptual framework of unintended consequences approach, which deals with irrational aspect of foreign policy of the states. This study makes interesting contribution to the existing literature of the old Great Game (OGG) or the New Great Game (NGG) by re-conceptualizing the new concept of Grand Great Game or the 3G in place of explaining the unintended consequences of post-9/11 power play in the region and making Afghanistan an international conflict. The findings of this dissertation suggest the current 3G to be not only multidimensional competition, embodying multiple stakeholders but also incorporating complex self-defined rational as well as irrational foreign policy objectives and national interests. The current paradigm also distinguishes itself by transforming the international conflict into a regional one as well. This study mainly explores the regional conflict in Afghanistan under the framework of proxy war between Pakistan and India. Indeed, the unintended consequences of the 3G are bitterer than the reality. The foreign interventions have paralyzed the Afghan society and made it more insecure by promoting clandestine terrorist activities and proxies. Here, this 3G is about economic designs by social and cultural means for the realistic ends at large. The players are fulfilling their unattained aspirations through terrorism in the region. The OGG was related to the battle of borders. Throughout the history of Afghan land, it has been observed that the most-affected land of all prevailing evils in Afghanistan is Pakistan. Death squads of terrorists have been prepared against both lands which have killed their thousands of people in the post- 9/11. Pakistan has paid a heavy cost of this continued death squad of terrorism for its national sovereignty. In short, both situations of chaos and peace in Afghanistan are directly proportional to Pakistan’s instability and stability.