Assessing The Hopes And Fears For Pakistan Politics Essay

Assessing The Hopes And Fears For Pakistan Politics Essay Pakistan has vibrant and diverse society with different cultures live as a federation. We have past and present in front of our eyes, which could help us to predict future and take necessary steps to make it even better. In present International scenario, Pakistan is important country and this status along with several internal problems in particular has created many fears for the country. We have to develop hopes for better future. By analyzing todays fears and tomorrows hopes we can do this. We have to visualize society of the future. Absence of democracy in Pakistan is the biggest problem and internal threat for Pakistan. Pakistan is a federation of different cultures and sects and the only way by which they can participate in countrys affairs is democracy. Dictatorial, autocratic or military regime provokes only irrelevance in public to the national affairs. People begin to feel that, they have no representation and there is no one to raise voice for them. When people are not involved in policy making, they become irrelevant and every step taken by such government regardless of what intension is, they just develops anti government sentiments. This situation in country creates dangerous conflicts between different sects and cultures. Example of this situation is FATA and Baluchistan in particular and allover Pakistan in general. Present regime decided to take part in so-called war on terror after 9/11 bombings. Unconditional cooperation by unelected regime made people angry and bombings in FATA area raised this d isagreement to the point where conflict changed to collision. This war inside Pakistan has widened to settled areas from tribal areas and has compelled people to create law order problem who by no other way can raise their voices. Suicide attacks, bombings and extremism in Pakistan are caused because of war on terror and extreme use of brutal force by own army on its own people. This law and order situation is very dangerous for integrity of Pakistan. It is an understood fact that wherever religious or different sects of same origin came across each other, sectarianism is found in varying forms. Sometime they exist peacefully but sometime they have fierce conflict. This fierce conflict is often called sectarian violence. This situation in Pakistan was not so dangerous until 80s when different cultural and religious sects were made to fight for sustaining dictatorial government. Religious sectarianism was supported by some Arab powers and some other nations also played their role in provoking violence and hatred against each other; Cultural and Language diversity normally plays important role in progress. But in Pakistan this has played negative role in the absence of democracy where there has been unfair and unjust allocation of resources. This has weakened Pakistan as Pakistan is a federation and if any federating unit is unhappy or angry this will weaken Pakistan. This is said that if there is no politics and lack of tolerance t hen there is violence. Solution to this problem is real democracy through free and fair elections held under neutral caretaker government. Elections should be held in free and fair environment where everyone has liberty to select his representatives who will truly represent wishes of people. Initially the change might not be considerable but with time it will show its effects if and this is big if, if no more interruptions are made in political democratic process it will show its results. Independent election commission shall be made to conduct elections in free fair environment as it is normally said that it doesnt matter to whom you cast the vote, what really matter is who counts the vote The role of agencies in threatening opposite candidates and their involvement in rigging is also needed to be finishes forever. Free and fair environment will also increase turnout in elections showing interest of people in policy making of Pakistan. Creating awareness through open tolerant discussions via media will a lso play important role. Corruption and poverty are other major problems faced by Pakistan. Pakistans economy has been affected by corruption very much. The high-level corruption, which involves politicians, military and civil bureaucracy and feudalists, has damaged countrys economy. This corruption is done usually by borrowing large loans from banks and by borrowing loans from international financial institutions for development purposes and then these loans is not returned; rather these are transferred to personal bank accounts. These increase debts on Pakistan have crushed its economy. These debts are than returned by general public through high taxes. Taking high rates of commission and giving tenders of public projects according to likes and dislike instead of merit is also common type of corruption. SGS Coteckna case, Mehran Bank scandal, Surrey Palace scandal, Paper mills scandal, Steel Mills case and privatization of PTCL, Illegal agricultural land acquisition are common examples of corruption. Pakis tans number in corruption is still too high. The high-level corruption has been the major reason of poverty in Pakistan. This poverty has raised corruption in lower level that is under immense pressure of continuous inflation. To eradicate corruption we need to make sustainable and people friendly economic policies. If inflation will not be high the lower level corruption will eradicate. To eradicate high-level corruption we need to strengthen accountability process through powerful and independent minded judiciary. Apart from this we have shown some improvement, as our GDP growth rate is 7%, GDP of agriculture is 21.6%. GDP of industry is 25.1% and per capita has increased to $3004, our Karachi Stock exchange has been acclaimed as one of the top stock exchanges of world where more than 750 companies are registered. So we need to concentrate and be efficient more to develop. Education and health sector in Pakistan has been neglected more. Only around 2% of budget is allocated for education, which is around Rs 9556.44 million (9.55 billion). Our literacy rate is 56% with 87.3% enrollment in primary, 44% in secondary and just 4.6% in post-secondary. 10 million children in Pakistan are not getting basic education. Percentage of enrollment in higher grades is low because of poverty and high fees, which they cannot afford. Same sort of situation is with health, Poor facilities of health will not be able to protect future generations from disease. We need to increase this part of budget from 2% to at least 8% to 10%. Politics and political activities in any society show, how tolerant, vibrant and alive society is, and on what lines the country will progress. Political culture and structure of our country is also one of the biggest fears. Long dictatorships have weakened the political system, and now this system is mostly running for sole purpose of grabbing throne instead of providing services to people. Breaking promises corruption and feudal setup has made people fed up of politics. Core problem of politics lies in feudalism. Feudalism is a system in which one person is like owner (who is feudal head) and all other are like his property, despondent of any social rights. When feudalisms grip is tightened and people are kept in their social cage for years, people become thoughtless. Thus they are molded into their slaves for many coming generations. This could be understood by one example, for instance if we put a six feet high human in 3 by 3 cage, he will be transformed into dwarf. These people are then used as their supporters. These feudal possess huge land areas, and have back support of governments and politicians. These feudal become MPAs and MNAs or support them to be elected, so they are always in power. They never let people become educated because it creates awareness of right and wrong, which could be dangerous for their never-ending rule. These feudal could be non-religious people or even religious feudal. This is biggest social problem of our society. Solution to this problem is land reforms, awareness of rights and most important is Education for all. Every prosperous and developed society in world has dissolved this system through land and educational reforms. Best examples are Bangladesh and India; as they had dissolved feaudalism immediately after independence. In this context the light for hope is dim but not yet vanished. There were many doubts about civil society that because of continuous intervention of military in democratic process and absence of independence of judiciary, have made civil society irrelevant of national affair. But 9th march of 2007 and events followed proved that civil society of Pakistan is still alive, though was silent. This was proven that citizens could fight for rights; they just need a right man. That man the leader came from superior judiciary. When a dictator tried to take on judiciary, which was providing true justice to people, civil society reacted. Reaction from lawyers community, media and civil society was unprecedented. No one had ever expected that people would come on streets in large numbers to defend Independence of judiciary. In past judiciary in Pakistan was not regarded as independent, and always criticized by people, mostly for its decision in favor of establishment and against the popular wis hes of people. History of these decisions starts from 1954; Justice Munirs decision in which he developed the law of necessity and later on gave legal cover to first Martial law. This history continued to 2000 and somehow after. Establishment, dictators and even politicians when in power always crushed judiciary and independent minded judges. But when Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudary was made Chief Justice it was felt that government and bureaucracy (establishment) and intelligence agencies are also accountable to someone. This made above elements angry and they attacked judiciary. Unlike past this time a historical unprecedented movement initiated by lawyers, which was one of its kinds in present history, specially the bar councils bar associations. These people also become heroes of people of Pakistan. The media, which has gained its independence through long struggle, was in support of this movement and civil society was there for all time, for instance the Rally of 5th May Is lamabad to Lahore where millions of people came on street to salute this non-political leader, their Chief Justice, who had made them conscious of their respect. So we have reached the conclusion that there are still hopes as judiciary, media, and lawyers and most important the civil society is still alive. There are still hopes because we have potential to develop and there are still hopes because we are conscious and aware of our rights. There are only two fears, first is absence of democracy and second is that we havent still identified those forces which are creating differences between us. If we could solve these two problems we will be able to develop harmony and tolerance in our society and could achieve highs of success.

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood :: essays research papers

The role of a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead is ultimately to breed, and nothing more. Cooped up in a nondescript room with nothing but her own thoughts and painful memories for company, the narrator, Offred, shows many signs of retreating further and further into her own world, and becoming slowly more unstable throughout the course of the novel as her terrible new life continues. The most common and by far the most disturbing example of this is the use of imagery and symbolism in the book. Many everyday items and observations are likened to some kind of sickening or violent image, which indicate that Offred isn’t really all that stable; for example a removed light fixture is described as being â€Å"like the place in a face where the eye has been taken out.† Other examples of this are describing a Guardian of the Faith’s face as â€Å"unwholesomely tender, like the skin under a scab† and likening â€Å"half-dead, flexible and pink† worms to lips. A tourist’s stiletto heels are â€Å"delicate instruments of torture†; fluffy clouds are thought of as â€Å"headless sheep† and urinals â€Å"look oddly like babies’ coffins†. The Commander’s Wife herself is described as having a chin â€Å"clenched like a fist†. Further on in the book, when Moira has been violently punished for faking an illness; â€Å"... she could not walk for a week... They looked like drowned feet, swollen and boneless, except for the colour. They looked like lungs.† All these violent, disgusting images are evidence for Offred’s deteriorating state of health. Other similes mentioned are not so much violent as they are strange; at one stage, Offred compares herself to a piece of toast. The author also uses colour as a powerful symbolic device. The colour red is referred to many times in the novel, most notably when Offred describes herself as â€Å"a Sister, dipped in blood.† This image in particular refers to menstruation, a process the Handmaids have grown to dread as it proves they have ‘failed’ once again. The reoccurring image of the tulips in the garden also relates to this – they are also red and compared to blood: â€Å"... a darker crimson toward the stem, as if they had been cut and are beginning to heal there.† and all of the references can be likened to â€Å"Tulips†, a poem by Sylvia Plath, written about her time in a mental illness ward. We are informed, primarily in Chapter Two, that any object that may aid suicide is strictly out of bounds in Offred’s accommodation.

Renaissance in Italy

There were many factors that led to the Renaissance beginning in Italy. The Renaissance was a transition to the Modern Age that began in Italy. It began in Italy for plenty of reasons but the main factors for this happening are the geographical and sociological factors. These were what made Italy the country that started the Renaissance movement that would later move all throughout Europe. Geographically the main reason why Italy started the Renaissance was the reminder they had from ancient Rome. It was the beauty and art that showed that this area had wealth. 94) This was like a reminder to all the people in that country that they can all have wealth and beauty like that. It wasn't even Just the wealth and beauty in Rome but also the arts and music that was shown, this helped them want to change. (294) Not only was it Rome but there were also other cities like Milan, Florence, Venice, Mantra and Genoa that had the same characteristics. (295) This led to them stepping away from King doms and instead being led by cities. (Lecture 1) The wealthy families also helped start the Renaissance in Italy.One example was he Medici family who were so wealthy that they take over the city of Florence. (Lecture 1) Europe was hit with a plague and the first country to start trading again was Italy, which helped them get a huge increase in wealth over the other countries in Europe. This in itself had a big impact on the creation of the Renaissance in Italy. (lecture 1) All these factors played a big role in the creation of the Renaissance. It was because of Italy's history, location, and wealth that helped this happen. Without all these things happening in Italy the Renaissance wouldn't have happened as fast as it did.

Women and World War II - Women in the Government

Women and World War II - Women in the Government In addition to thousands of women who took government jobs in support of the war effort or to free up men for other jobs, women played key leadership roles in government. In China, Madame Chiang Kai-shek was an active promoter of the Chinese cause against the Japanese occupation. This wife of the Nationalist leader of China was head of Chinas air force during the war. She spoke to the US Congress in 1943. She was called the worlds most famous woman for her efforts. British women in government also played important roles during the war. Queen Elizabeth (wife of King George VI, born Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon) and her daughters, Princesses Elizabeth (future Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret, were an important part of the morale effort, continuing to live at Buckingham Palace in London even when the Germans were bombing the city, and distributing aid in the city after bombing raids. Member of Parliament and feminist, American-born Nancy Astor, worked to keep up the morale of her constituents and served as unofficial hostess to American troops in England. In the United States, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt played an active role in building morale among civilians and military forces. Her husbands use of a wheelchair and his conviction that he must not be seen publicly as disabled meant that Eleanor traveled, wrote, and spoke. She continued to publish a daily newspaper column. She also advocated for responsible roles for women and for minorities. Other women in decision-making positions included Frances Perkins,  US Secretary of Labor (1933-1945), Oveta Culp Hobby who headed the War Departments Womens Interest Section and became director of the Womens Army Corps (WAC), and Mary McLeod Bethune who served as director of the Division of Negro Affairs and advocated the commissioning of black women as officers in the Womens Army Corps. At the end of the war, Alice Paul rewrote the Equal Rights Amendment, which had been introduced into and rejected by each session of Congress since women had achieved the vote in 1920. She and other former suffragists expected that womens contributions to the war effort would naturally lead to the acceptance of equal rights, but the Amendment didnt pass Congress until the 1970s, and eventually failed to pass in the required number of states.

ACT Test Security Protocols What to Expect

ACT Test Security Protocols What to Expect SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Standardized test materials must be kept under lock and key to ensure fairness and scoring accuracy during each administration. The ACT is no exception to this rule, and ACT Inc. has many regulations in place to prevent the distribution of confidential test questions to the public. In this article, I'll go through all of theACT test security rules, what security breaches have occurred in recent years, and what this means for students in general. Why Is ACT Test Security a Concern? It’s extremely important for ACT Inc. to ensure that the test materials are secure before, during and after each administration.In the event that someone acquires test materials before the exam, the integrity of that whole administration of the test is compromised.Students with prior knowledge of the test will earn artificially high scores and skew the curve, putting other students who didn’t cheat at a significant disadvantage.Breaches in test security also undermine the credibility of the testing organization and the validity of the test as a measure of academic ability. How Does ACT Inc. Ensure Test Security? There are a few ways in which ACT Inc. guards the integrity of exam materials. These regulations come into play before, during, and after each examination period. Security of Test Materials Before the Exam Access to test materials before test day is restricted to test coordinators who work for ACT Inc.School staff may assist in organizing the materials, but only if the test coordinator is also present and the staff member doesn’t have any relatives who will be testing during this administration.Anyone who assists with the test materials must be identified on the ACT State and District Testing Staff List.Anyone who may potentially take the ACT within the next 12 months is prohibited from gaining access to the test materials.Test materials can’t be transferred to or from another location without prior authorization by ACT Inc. Test coordinators are responsible for all testing materials from start to finish to prevent tampering by anyone at individual schools.The test coordinator checks all the packages of test booklets upon receipt at each school to ensure that none have been tampered with.The materials are also counted to ensure that there are no missing booklets or booklets with broken seals.The seals on all test booklets must remain intact until the examinee breaks them on test day.The carton of test booklets is then resealed by the test coordinator, locked away in a secure area, and only brought back out on the morning of the test. Test Center Conduct Test coordinators from ACT Inc. must hand the booklets directly to proctors on test day.Booklets are re-counted every time they change hands to make sure the number of booklets stays the same and the serial numbers are correct.Completed exams go directly back into the hands of the test coordinator and are stored in a secure area. Testing rooms are never left unattended even if there is only one student in the room, and students are prohibited from viewing sections of the test ahead of time or turning back to sections after time has already been called.No electronic devices that might be used to document the test content in any way are permitted in the testing room.Devices like smartphones should be turned off and stowed away under your desk/in your bag throughout the exam. Don't risk leaving your phone on. If it starts ringing in the middle of the test, you'll most likely be dismissed and have your scores canceled. Farewell, sweet prince (for a couple of hours, then it's back to checking my email every ten seconds). Recent Breaches in ACT Test Security In August of 2016, the ACT laid off its head of test security in response to a huge security breach that occurred on the last administration of the test.During the June 2016 administration of the test, the ACT canceled all sittings in Hong Kong and South Korea because of leaked test materials.The ACT plans to audit nearly 200 education centers after widespread cheating was discovered in ACT-owned college-prep programs for international students.Test prep companies in China and South Korea have also been administering the ACT to students, a practice which is prohibited by ACT Inc due to the obvious conflict of interests. There have been reports of widespread cheating in the ACT-owned Global Assessment Certificate program or GAC, which operates countries and has over 5,000 students and 197 centers (most of which are located in mainland China).Some students have reported that they were allowed to practice with materials that later showed up on the real exam.There have also been issues with test prep companies, particularly in East Asia, taking advantage of the ACT’s practice of reusing questions by harvesting questions from past exams so that students can practice with materials they may see on the test. ACT Inc. has plans to introduce a computerized version of the ACT for international students in 2017 to reduce the risk of materials being leaked ahead of time to students. The next step in ACT technology: Robotic test proctors with impossibly chiseled abs. What Do ACT Test Security Rules Mean for Students? It’s important to understand the consequences of sharing confidential test information, whether it happens before or after you take the test.Though tracing test security leaks is very difficult, their impact on you, the other students taking the test, and the integrity of the whole system is extremely negative. If test materials are leaked, lots of scores may be canceled, even those of students who never consulted the materials beforehand.Also, ACT Inc. won’t be able to use the questions they created ever again after they’ve been compromised.If test leaks occur and are not discovered, students will earn artificially high scores, skewing the curve lower for everyone else.Basically, if you hear about any test leaks, it’s in your best interests to report them to ACT Inc. and not to participate in the cheating. On test day, make sure you have a valid photo ID and your admission ticket with you so you can verify your identity. Bring a calculator that has been approved for use on the test. When you're taking the test, don't try to skip ahead to a section that hasn't started yet or go back to a section that has already passed. Don't discuss questions with other students during breaks, and keep your smartphone turned off and stowed away in your bag at all times. Violations of this kind could result in your scores being canceled! Also, don’t try to recreate test questions after you take the exam (this is something people have done on College Confidential fairly frequently).There’s a reason the ACT asks you not to talk about the specific materials you saw on the test. Sometimes those materials will be reused on future exams or slightly later international test dates.I know it’s hard not to talk about questions after the test, but you really shouldn't post them in online forums where people who haven’t taken the ACT yet might take advantage of them. Don't yell out the answers to ACT questions in the middle of the ruins of the Roman forum either. You never know who's listening. Although if they do listen to you for more than a couple seconds they're probably not of sound enough mind to do anything with what they hear. Summary: What You Need to Know About ACT TestSecurity ACT Inc. takes test security very seriously. If the questions are compromised, they can no longer be used, and many students' scores may become invalid. Many regulations are put in place to prevent question leaks both before and after each test is administered, but sometimes things still slip through the cracks. There have been several instances of question leaks and related cheating scandals just within the past few years. As a student, it's in your best interests to keep the questions confidential after the test and to report any signs of cheating. Test security violations don't just help the people who have advance knowledge - they actively hurt everyone else who takes the test fairly. What's Next? Check out this article for more details on the rules and regulations that inform test day procedure (and how to make sure you don't violate them). What exactly can you expect when you get to the test center? Read this guide to ACT test day so you can feel comfortable going into the experience. It's important to say something if your proctor makes a mistake or the test center environment is too distracting. Learn when and how to speak up in these situations. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

The matrix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The matrix - Essay Example The directors of the movie ‘The Matrix’ are the two Wachowski siblings; they are Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski. The two brothers were very enthusiastic about the movie even before the making of it. It was a very ambitious project for them. They have portrayed the religious belief and the conception that they possess in well documented manner in the movie. The religious inclination of the siblings came from their mother. Their mother was originally a catholic, so the directors have got some sort of inclination towards the religious beliefs and conceptions. Moreover, their mother was also a Shamanist, i.e. she believed in reaching to an alternate state of mind. She also used to develop an energy that helped her to communicate with the various spirits. Furthermore, she also used to have the power to enter into the benevolent and malevolent spirits of the universe and can highly influence them. These environments of religion and spiritual beliefs have highly influenced s iblings to have a strong inclination towards it. Hence, they were influenced to make the movie. The movie, ‘The Matrix’, has also shown a suffice presence of the religious and spiritual concepts. Moreover, the two siblings had immensely struggled in their early life of childhood. They also believe that they were able to survive in those struggling days only because of the blessings of the God and the holy spirits (Gerrold 1-257). Literally speaking, ‘The Matrix’ is the development of an object that is influenced by the political, cultural and social environment. There are various religions practiced in this world that believe the concept portrayed in the movie, ‘The Matrix’. Moreover, the religious beliefs conveyed in Christianity and Buddhism shows strong similarity in their doctrines to the message that is being portrayed in the movie. Many people in this world believe that the

Caribbean Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Caribbean Literature - Essay Example These woman writers were born in the late 1940s and 1950s and they produced their first major works in the 1980s. "The term 'Caribbean women writers' describes an extremely diverse collection of women: women of numerous racial and ethnic groups who reside in many nations and write in at least four European languages and many Caribbean Creoles." (Rody, 117) Significantly, the most acclaimed woman writer of the region, Jean Rhys, is a white woman identified with English modernism who lived in the wake of Caribbean women's renaissance in the 1980s. Jamaica Kincaid, Michelle Cliff, and Maryse Conde are some of the prominent figures during the Caribbean women's renaissance in the 1980s. Therefore, a profound analysis of the Caribbean literature of 1980s, one recognizes a key stage of development in women's writing. In the critical work 'The Invisible Woman in West Indian Literature', Ramabai Espinet investigates the 'invisibility' of East Indian woman in Caribbean literature and one gets the notion that women arbiters are marginalized by virtue of their ethnicity a