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.

A Study of the Causes of Students Conceptual Problems in Learning Algebra

The main purpose of my study was to find out some of the conceptual problems and their causes in learning algebra. The study was conducted in three stages, Pre-Intervention, intervention and post-intervention stages, in one of the government schools. Two teachers and ten students from class VII-A and VII-D voluntarily participated in this study in order to provide relevant information. To collect required information, non-participant and participant observation, semi-structured interviews and reflective journal were used as techniques. During the pre-intervention stage of study, the causes of some conceptual problems in learning algebra which include lack of teachers' content knowledge, teachers' misconception about algebraic terms, gap between students' existing and current knowledge, Urdu algebraic terminology, and wait time for students were identified. The teachers appeared to be unaware of these causes of the problems. To work with the teachers as a mentor in order to improve their classroom practice and help them to overcome these problems to some extent, an intervention of instructional strategies was introduced. The findings of my study reveal that the teachers found the mentoring process helpful in improving their classroom practice and further helped them to some extent to overcome these conceptual problems. The teachers thought that the group work and A.V aids contributed to effective teaching of algebra. These views were also confirmed by the students. Further, teachers thought, if such professional support continues they can update the content and enhance the pedagogical knowledge which might help them to make students' learning in algebra interesting and meaningful.