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Pakistani and Palestinian flag
Since the inception of Pakistan as an independent nation-state, it has been a staunch supporter of an independent Palestinian state and through such strong advocacy of this cause, it has also shown a degree of resoluteness in its non-recognition of the world’s only Jewish state that is Israel.
Daily Times
May 23, 2021
Lahore: A Palestinian solidarity protest was held by various civil society groups at Lahore Press Club on Saturday. A crowd of around 800 people gathered and voiced their concerns over human rights violations being perpetrated in Palestine at the hands of Israeli Security forces and settlers. The protest was organized by Aurat March (Lahore), Haqooq e Khalq Movement (HKM) and the Progressive Students Collective (PSC).
The rally was attended by people from all walks of life; students, activists, lawyers and workers all marched together demanding an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine. Palestinian students studying in Lahore also joined the protest and addressed the crowd.
11 May 2021Politics
Last month, Pakistan witnessed some of the most violent clashes between protestors and security forces in the country’s recent history, which left 6 police officers and 12 protestors dead. The protests were led by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a right-wing religious group that came to prominence defending the ‘honour’ of the Prophet Muhammad after the publication of blasphemous cartoons in France last year. The unrest not only expressed the profound contradictions embedded in the Pakistani state; it also demonstrated the tragic consequences of a weakened internationalist left.
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws can be traced back to the competing religious nationalisms of Colonial India. The eruption of a mass anti-colonial movement in the region after the First World War coincided with an increase in political violence among Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities. Known in colonial lexicon as ‘communal tensions’, these clashes tore apart the social fabric of
Another generation on mute
April 23, 2021
On March 6, the Islamia University in Bahawalpur expelled 8 students for organising a peaceful protest, a right afforded to them under Article 16 of the Constitution. Since 1984, when General Zia-ul-Haq banned student unions, with the exception of brief stints of freedom under Benazir Bhutto’s tenure, Pakistan’s university students have largely remained a muffled, if not entirely silenced, constituency.
The State’s menu of heavy-handedness is not limited to banning unions. In January, 5 students of the Progressive Students Collective, were arrested without warrants for demanding online exams during the pandemic. Medical students belonging to the Tribal Areas and Balochistan are on hunger strike, after the Pakistan Medical Commission slashed the number of reserved seats for students from these areas overnight from 265 to 29. This is the state of our union.
Demand to make Punjabi compulsory for primary classes - Pakistan dawn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dawn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.