Author: Umair Ud Din

Strategic Stability Paradigm in South Asia

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Strategic Stability Paradigm in South Asia

 

Tauqeer Hussain Sargana

International Islamic University Islamabad

Mujahid Hussain

Bahria University Islamabad

Abstract

The advent of nuclear weapons has brought into discussion the strands of strategic stability that initially occupied the Cold War rivals and later the neighboring states of South Asia. Both the Soviet Union and the United States due to distanced geography with that of settled strategic language have almost brought a positive tendency in crisis management and strategic stability. Contrary to Cold War rivals, the South Asian nuclear opponents have gone through a vulnerability of strategic miscalculation and crisis instability. That is why at most of their direct military stalemates, the US and Soviets had to jump in to defuse the crises. Moreover, Indian military modernization, deliberate maintenance of conventional asymmetry, application of sub-conventional warfare, state-sponsored terrorism, regional dominance and global aspirations interlinked with the containment of China under Indo-US strategic partnership has altogether shaped the contemporary discourse of strategic stability in South Asia. This study makes the point that the strands of strategic stability between the two regional powers of South Asia are tied to the complex web of the bilateral, regional and global framework. It is in this larger construct that strategic stability in South Asia can be best described. This study is deductive in nature and theoretically evaluates the notion of strategic stability paradigm to deconstruct the prevailing fault lines.

Effects of Social Network Sites (SNS) on the Psychological Health of College Students in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan

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Effects of Social Network Sites (SNS) on the Psychological Health of College Students

in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan

 

Rooh ul Amin

International Islamic University Islamabad

Dr. Khalid Sultan

National University of Modern Languages Islamabad

Abid Zafar

International Islamic University Islamabad

Abstract

The increasing trend of technological development and its acceptance by the users is a hallmark of this age. The proliferation of the most innovative technologies and its consequent convenience of information and communication via the internet have malformed the center and the fringe almost in the same manner. The social network sites (SNSs) are also attracting individuals because of their affordance and reach. The SNSs helped to connect people, groups and communities, with shared interest on Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter and Snap chat, etc. Heavy exposure to the SNS among the youth has now become ‘virtual addiction’ that at times brings about psychological health issues. Researchers have observed a correlation between stress, depression, low self- esteem, loneliness, and social network addiction and emphasized that such dependence affects the health and psychological status of a person. This paper is also an attempt to identify such correlations by conducting a study examining varying degrees of effects on heavy and light users both male and female in academic institutes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. The result showed a significant difference between heavy and light users for the stress levels. Females also experienced more stress than their male counterparts .it was found that female respondents were feeling more loneliness and their self-esteem got more affected as compared to males by their online activity.

Human Values in Textbooks: A Case Study of General Zia and Post-2010 Democratic Regimes

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Human Values in Textbooks: A Case Study of General Zia and Post-2010 Democratic Regimes

 

Qamar Abbas

International Islamic University Islamabad

Abstract

The study is qualitative in nature using the content analysis method of research. The core objective of the study has been to gauge and compare the values in the textbooks during two eras; viz, General Zia-ul-Haq (1978-1988) and Post-2010 democratic regimes. For this purpose, the textbooks of two different time periods have been selected – primary level (grade I to V) English (as a subject) textbooks published by the Punjab Textbook Board during General Zia-ul-Haq regime and the same level English textbooks published by the Punjab Textbook Board during post-2010 democratic regimes. The human values such as tolerance, patience, empathy, honesty, justice, equity, and humanism have been divided into some categories with further subcategories as indicators to match with the content of textbooks. The collected data revealed that neither the textbooks during the Zia-ul-Haq period nor the textbooks of post-2010 regimes promoted these values in the students, as they ought to be. A minor percentage of human values have been found in the textbooks of both eras.

Discovering human rights journalism in Pakistani English dailies reporting Baluchistan conflict

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Discovering human rights journalism in Pakistani English dailies reporting Baluchistan conflict

Tariq Mehmood

Baluchistan University of Information Technology,

Engineering and Management Sciences, Quetta

Abstract

Human rights journalism (HRJ) model has been applied in this study investigating the contents of two leading English dailies of Pakistan reporting on the Baluchistan conflict which has caused massive human rights loss and violation in the last several decades. The selected dailies, The News International and Dawn, found both with human rights journalism (HRJ) and human wrong journalism (HWJ) in the year 2016. The Dawn has reported many such stories with less HRJ whereas The News International has reported comparatively few stories but with more HRJ,solution-oriented news.

Usage of humor to Overshadow Islamophobia in the World

Usage of humor to Overshadow Islamophobia in the World

Farzana Kausar
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology
Dr. Wajid Zulqarnain
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology

Abstract:

After the 9/11 incident in the United States, a hatred gap arose between the Americans and Americans Muslims. Many Muslim stand-up comedians started their efforts to decrease this tension through humorous performances and comic screenplays. Also, Muslim comedians are neutralizing negative social discrimination between Muslims and another world to reduce the impact of Islamophobia in the world. For data analysis, Linguistic Inquiry & Word Count (LIWC) used to analyses the positive emotions, negative emotions, and emotional tone. Findings exhibit that Muslim stand-up comedians are contributing to lessen the stereotyping discernments and disliked comments about Muslim identity globally. It is concluded that comedy has also helped in comforting the audiences that Arab and Muslim are not unpatriotic and adversarial to the United States or to the rest of the world.

Keywords: Muslim, Comedians, Stand-up comedy, Islamophobia

The US and Russian Battlefield Maneuvers in the 21st Century

The US and Russian Battlefield Maneuvers in the 21 Century

Tauqeer Hussain Sargana
International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan
Mujahid Hussain
Bahria University Islamabad, Pakistan.

Abstract
This study makes the point that the 21 century is practicing non-kinetic warfare and nations vulnerable to it must overcome their weaknesses or be ready to get consumed. The world at large has witnessed a shift in the co-existence of relations among nations. Traditionally, an ally or the foe had a decisive place in the phenomenon of cooperation and competition, respectively. Realist
tendencies and strategies to outcast the strengths of one’s enemy were straightforwardly applied. Military means including framing alliances were applied to squeeze the very possibility of response mechanism vested in the enemy’s defense lines. Contrary to this, those who fall in the vicinity of friendship orally, were to the best helped and taken along. This crafted the era of kineticism, where political affiliations with all its strengths and weaknesses were open and nations have clear manifestation to opt for the best side. This had been the case from First to Third Generations of warfare. Somehow, the Fourth Generation of warfare has faded away from the very distinction between an ally and foe. The discourse of ‘national interest’ in the 21 century has fed anxiety and distrust among nations. This study, therefore, is deductive in nature and has used the above analogy as a theoretical premise to decode the hypothetical assumption that there exists a context of non-kinetic warfare and both US and Russia have entered into ‘maneuvered battlefield’. Secondary data with authors own reflections being a student of international politics has driven the analysis and findings.

Keywords: US, Russia, MOAB, FOAB, S-300PMU, Syria, Afghanistan, Daish/ISIS

Shooting War or Peace. The Analysis of Photographs in Selected Newspapers of Pakistan

Shooting War or Peace: The analysis of Photographs in Selected Newspapers of Pakistan

Sami Ullah
ASK Development, Islamabad
Wajahat Rahman
Flair International, Islamabad
Syed Inam ur Rehman
International Islamic University Islamabad

Abstract
According to peace scholar Johan Gultung war journalism frame is one which highlights the differences between the conflict parties and promotes violence as a tool to conflict resolution while in his views peace journalism frames are those which highlights the peace as a first step in its coverage and bring down differences between the war parties to resolve the conflict. Therefore, on the classification of peace scholar of these two competing frames, this study will be the first quantitative analysis of news photographs (2014-2015) of the ongoing war on terror in Pakistan. using war photographs this study examined that to which extent the news photographs of war are framed in the war versus peace journalism in the two leading dailies of Pakistan Dawn (English) and Jung (Urdu). Findings of this study also indicated that both the newspapers provided war photographs in different assortments while covering the conflict in the country which proves that photographs selection in terms of war versus peace journalism had very concrete touch on public opinion influencing the perception of news.

Exploring the Political Parallelism discourse on Representation of Islam & Muslims in Australian Press

Exploring the Political Parallelism discourse on Representation of Islam and Muslims in the
Australian Press

Muhammad Junaid Ghauri
International Islamic University Islamabad
Dr. Zafar Iqbal
International Islamic University Islamabad

Abstract

Recent research has revealed a prominent ‘political parallelism’ discourse in the coverage of Islam and Muslims by international media. The studies have evidenced that the coverage of Islam and Muslims is widely influenced by the ideological leanings of the newspapers. This paper is set to explore whether the ideological differences of the Australian newspapers are reflected in the coverage of Islam and Muslims during January 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017. Employing Van Dijk’s (1998) ideological square and lexicalization approaches within the CDA paradigm this study examined editorials from two leading Australian newspapers. The findings have validated the existence of the ‘political parallelism’ discourse in the editorial contents of the selected newspapers representing Islam and Muslims.

Keywords: Political Parallelism, Representation, Islam, Muslims, ideological square, lexicalization

Audience Credibility on TV News Channels. A Case Study of Geo & ARY News

Audience Credibility on TV News Channels: A Case Study of Geo & ARY News Channels

Zeenat Baloch
Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi
Dr. Ayesha Qamar
Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi
Dr. Ahlam Tariq
Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi

Abstract
The boom of Pakistani channels started after the PEMRA issued licenses to many private channels and later on questions were raised on the credibility of Pakistani news media. Measuring the audience credibility on the news channels is the most important aspect as credibility is said to be the backbone of the entire media system. The credibility of news channels is becoming an increasingly important area to understand, to expand knowledge in this domain, a survey study was conducted out that investigated people’s perception of the credibility of two news channels namely ARY News and Geo News. The research explores the perception of the news audiences on the credibility of the news channels. A survey is administered with the help of a convenience sampling technique and a selected sample of 200 audiences from Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. The researcher assessed the credibility perception of the audiences toward the two news media channels: ARY News and Geo News. The credibility is measured with the help of two different components: source and medium. To measure these constructs a 12-scale factor developed by Gaziano and McGrath (1986) with additions from Infante (1980) and Jacobson (2012) is incorporated. The findings suggested that the audience perceived the credibility of a source in a different way whereas both channels as a medium are perceived to be similar. The data showed the negative linkage between age, gender, education, occupation, and the news media channel’s credibility but shows the positive relationship between political affiliation and credibility perception of the news channels.
Keywords: Media credibility, traditional media, Pakistani television

Stratigic Stability Paradigm in South Asia

Strategic Stability Paradigm in South Asia
Tauqeer Hussain Sargana
International Islamic University Islamabad,
Mujahid Hussain
Bahria University Islamabad

Abstract
The advent of nuclear weapons has brought into discussion the strands of strategic stability that initially occupied the Cold War rivals and later the neighboring states of South Asia. Both the Soviet Union and the United States due to distanced geography with that of settled strategic language has almost brought a positive tendency in crisis management and strategic stability. Contrary to Cold
War rivals, the South Asian nuclear opponents have gone through the vulnerability of strategic miscalculation and crisis instability. That is why at most of their direct military stalemates, the US and Soviets had to jump in to defuse the crises. Moreover, Indian military modernization, deliberate maintenance of conventional asymmetry, application of sub-conventional warfare, state-sponsored terrorism, regional dominance and global aspirations interlinked with the containment of China under Indo-US strategic
the partnership has altogether shaped the contemporary discourse of strategic stability in South Asia. This study makes the point that the strands of strategic stability between the two regional powers of South Asia are tied to the complex web of the bilateral, regional and global framework. It is in this larger construct that strategic stability in South Asia can be best described. This study is deductive in nature and theoretically evaluates the notion of strategic stability paradigm to deconstruct the prevailing
fault lines.
Keywords: Strategic Stability, nuclear weapons, South Asia, Flexible Response, Massive Retaliation, Cold War, USA, Soviet Union/Russia, Pakistan, India, Deterrence, Crisis Stability.