George Floyd’s Murder

George Floyd’s murder by the police in Minneapolis provoked widespread political agitation across the country. It once again highlighted the problematic racial dimension of policing and eggregious violation of human rights commitments on the part of the government. In this article we explore how the human rights law and racism in the United States interact with each other? We employ qualitative research based on descriptive-analytical method and divide the article in four parts: a brief introduction, a historical background of racism, a conceptual comprehension of racial discrimination and a brief survey of the international human rights instruments against racism, and the onground situation of racial discrimination in the country. We conclude that the process of negotiation between human rights law and racism in the United States is far from settled yet.

Vinay Lal, The Fury of COVID-19: The Politics, Histories, and Unrequited Love of the Coronavirus, New Dehli: Pan Macmillan Publishing, 2020.

This book is composed of a set of disparate essays that are grounded in history, political economy, and philosophy. These essays focus on a range of topics addressing different dynamics of the coronavirus pandemic. They include history of pandemics, governmental discourse on health and practical strategies, the role of WHO, neo-liberal economic order and consumerism, social order and human attitudes, nationalism and immigration, and global warming and climate change. Shedding light on these various dynamics, Lal exposes the high claims made by the powerful states like the US, the UK, and European states about their superior political systems, health care programs, and welfare services.

Role of Religious Leaders in Mobilizing Communities to Counter Violent Extremism

Swat and Dir valleys in Pakistan have seen the brunt of post 9/11 violent extremism in the recent past. Because this extremism was generated and exploited by a few religiously motivated violent organizations, a popular perception emerged that all religious leaders of the society were involved in terrorism. Therefore, this research focuses on the role played by those religious leaders who involved themselves in mobilizing local communities against violent extremism. Employing a mixed-method research approach and sequential analysis strategy our data shows that most of the common local religious leaders played positive role in building community resilience to countering violent extremism during the early phase of the War on Terrorism in these two valleys.

Women's Rights and Democratic Transitions

Democratization provides women an opportunity to represent their interests/issues effectively. Institutional change of democratic transition proves women's movement's best chance to push for gender-sensitive policy outcomes. This case study critically examines three selected democratic transitions' workings and assesses the cross-cases variation in women's gendered outcomes (South Africa, Chile, and Pakistan). The research questions state as "how and why did women's movements perform differently in achieving gendered policy outcomes in the democratic transitions?” Engaging comparative framework and the qualitative approach, the study shows that the socio-political context, historical legacies, and party alliances have played vital role in varying gendered outcomes.

Judging the Judges

This work attempts to analyze what precisely is meant by judicial immunity and why is it necessary to protect judges for judging? Secondly, how did the jurisprudence of judicial immunity evolve in Pakistan? Presenting a thorough analysis of the decisions in recent cases, this article argues that although the juridical position on the question of judicial immunity has gone back and forth, the Supreme Court has finally laid down a judicial doctrine that extends judicial immunity to administrative, executive, consultative, and legislative decisions of judges of the High Court. It has also made clear that High Court is not allowed to issue a writ against administrative, executive or consultative acts of its own or another High Court for the purpose of ensuring harmony in the working of judiciary.

Incorporation of Universal Human Rights’ Norms in Municipal Law

The incorporation of universal human rights’ norms in public municipal law has often been a challenge for both Islamic and secular states. Employing an analytical method this article explores the main legal challenges to the incorporation of universal human rights norms into municipal laws in three states--Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two Islamic states, and India, the secular state. It is argued that despite their differences in the larger legal framework they follow a peculiar dualistic system to incorporate the human rights norms, which results in its application challenges.

Women and Terrorism

This article focuses on the clandestine role of women in aiding and abetting terrorism in the valley of Swat, Pakistan. It is based in extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the valley. The article investigates how women got involved in colluding with the Taliban when they took over the valley. Focusing on the class structure of the semi-tribal society of Swat Pushtuns, especially the segregation between men and women, the article suggests the Taliban exploited the long-built tension between the poor landless class and the rich landed class to convince the women of the former to collude with them with the promise of ameliorating their condition.

Žižek, Agamben and the Idea of Democratic Biopolitics

Following the debate between Giorgio Agamben and Slavoj Žižek in response to the pandemic, this essay explores that the concept of ‘democratic biopolitics’ is a viable alternative to the concept of ‘populist biopolitics’. The concept problematizes the dominant intellectual sense of the pandemic (whether it is a rupture or event) by rendering that ‘heeding to the aspirations of ordinary citizens’ is the key to understandiing the pandemic. It also double-downs on the idea of Sotiris and Schubert that a community based democratic response to the pandemic should be pursued.

Slavoj Žižek, Pandemic!

As a sequel to the previous book on Covid-19, philosopher Slavoj Žižek has published another more comprehensive and insightful work. Capturing the imagination of academic philosophers and critical thinkers it is a prolific inquiry into the eventful time and crisis of Covid-19.

The Use of Force during Territorial Occupation

It is well established that the provisions of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) regulates armed conflicts and guarantees protection to civilians. Similarly certain protections are also available under laws, such as, International Law of Occupation (ILOC) and International Human rights Law (IHRL). However, we know that often an occupying power uses force against civilians in the course of and maintenance of its occupation? But what grounds they give for the justification of use of force is the matter of critical focus in this article. We analyze the case studies of the State of Jammu and Kashmir (J & K) and Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to critically discuss the grounds of use of force under international law.