The Pakistani government cracked down on Power Loom workers and unions in Toba Tek Singh who were striking to demand raises in pays so that their pays were the same as workers in Faisabad. 27 workers were arrested.

People's assemblies in Pakistani villages, organized by Action Aid Pakistan, serve as an important forum for people to gather and discuss their problems within the community and with government stake holders and find ways and means to resolve these issues. Javed Soz Halai from Green Rural Development Organization (Action Aid partner) reports about one such people's assembly organized in September 2005, at Khairpur district in Sindh.

On 11th August, a peoples assembly on the issues and problems of rural workers was organized by Green Rural Development Organization(GRDO)in Hyderabad, Sindh.

Dr Shershah Syed, an Associate Professor of ob-gyn and Secretary General of the Pakistan Medical Association, in a free wheeling conversation on Women’s Rights in Pakistan.

In the 3rd part of this series, Dr. Syed Ali Wasif points out that mental health is not just a biochemical problem, due to the medical model of diagnosis and pharmacological means of treatment, it has social maladies and therefore, mental health is ignored and overlooked.

Health is non existent in this region for a common man, when we talk about South Asia, only affluent people can afford it in the private sector, as it has never been a priority of the ruling juntas. In the second of a 3 part series, Dr. Syed Ali Wasif speaks about the role of Pakistan Association for Mental Health.

Health is non existent in this region for a common man, when we talk about South Asia, only affluent people can afford it in the private sector, as it has never been a priority of the ruling juntas. In the first of a 3 part series, Dr. Syed Ali Wasif speaks about the state of Mental Health Services in Pakistan.

Author Ethan Casey shares his experiences while living in Pakistan, his travels, and his book during a Pakistan event to benefit The Citizens Foundation, Royal Geographical Society, London, 28 April 2005

Dr. Syed Ali Wasif reviews violence against children and child labor in various forms prevalent in Pakistan.

Sindhi is bestowed with naturally rich fishing waters. According to government estimates there are 1209 fishing waters in whole of Sindhi. Millions of fisherfolk draw their livelihood from these fishing grounds, including inland lakes,ponds,depressions and river Indus.

Justice (Retd.) Nasir Aslam Zahid is the Dean, Faculty of Law at Hamdard University in Karachi. He speaks on the rape of Dr. Shazia.

Indian and Pakistani leaders are working to develop programs for increased interaction between Indian and Pakistani youth.

The assault and rape of a medical doctor associated with Pakistan Petroleum Limited in Sui, Balochistan has created an uproar among the Balochi community and anger among the Pakistani Medical community. The Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America has also condemned the event and demanded justice for the doctor.

Mohammad Shehzad talks about the new attempt by the NWFP government to further constrain rights of women.

Reports in the British press say that Britain is throwing out more than a million tonnes of electronic "e-waste" such as broken computer monitors and discarded mobile phones every year. A Guardian report said that last year, 23,000 tonnes of IT and other electronic equipment was shipped out illegally, mostly to China, West Africa, Pakistan and India.

There seems to be much enthusiasm regarding Track II initiatives (or people to people’s contact) between India and Pakistan and the effect it has had. Indeed, in 2004, the volume of such contact was significantly higher than in the years past.

An Appeal for funds to help the peace march from India to Pakistan. If you cannot be part of the march, you can participate by helping organize the march.

In the first part of this series, Yvette Rosser talks about political forces and the prejudices in Pakistani textbooks.

Abdul Hamid Khan, Chairman of Balawaristan National Front presents a peace proposal for J&K to the heads of India and Pakistan from Gilgit Baltistan

On Oct. 26, Pakistani lawmakers took a significant step in protecting the rights of women when the lower house of Pakistan’s Parliament passed legislation that would recommend imprisonment of seven years to life for honor killings, and the death penalty in extreme cases.

Faisalabad is one of the major and industrial cities generating excessive noise pollution, causing serious health hazards for the people.

On the 12th of June, 2004, the Action Group of Physicians of South Asia (APSA) organized and sponsored a seminar on the “Prospects of Democracy in Pakistan”.

Dr. Syed Ehtisham writes about the politics and the history of Bangladesh and its relationship to the stateless people in Bangladesh.

Preparatory efforts for the peace march from New Delhi to Multan have begun in earnest.

The second article in this series explores the labor movement during the 70s and 80s when Z. Bhutto and Ziaul Haq held defined the direction of Pakistan's future.

Dr Syed Ehtisham writes on the violence of honor killings in Pakistan and the response of the inaction by the state. This article was first published for SadaTV (www.sadatv.com).

The last part of this 3-part series looks at labor policies of the Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharief governments.

In the first part of this series, B M Kutty presents a summary of the political forces that affected the labour movement in Pakistan in the first two decades after its independence.

The Second Annual Indo-Pak Independence Day Peace Celebration, in Houston, organized by Indian and Pakistani Communities and by local South Asian physicians in collaboration with community volunteers was held at the Holiday Inn Select in Houston on September 4th 2004.

For 2004, the Magsaysay award was presented to Mr. Laxminarayan Ramdas, chairperson of the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, and Ibn Abdur Rehman, director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for "their reaching across a hostile border to nurture a citizen-based consensus for peace between Pakistan and India.

A seventy member delegation of the Pakistan India People's Forum for
Peace and Democracy crossed over to Pakistan at the Attari-Wahga
border today to participate in the three day joint celebration of
the Forum's 10th Anniversary, being organised in Lahore.

A peace march is being planned by PIPFPD (Pakistan India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy) starting from Delhi, on 23rd March and will make its way to Multan, on 11th May, 2005.

People of Indian and Pakistani origin living in the Washington area gathered around the statue of Gandhi to celebrate their respective Independence day and bring focus to peace in that region.

On June 25th, the meeting on South Asian Judicial Interaction on Environmental Justice and Equity ended with a key declaration that gives the judiciary of these South Asian nations the responsibility of protecting the biodiversity of this region and providing for environmental justice in the face of increasing environmental exploitation. What are the implications of this declaration?

An analysis of Pakistan's 2004 Budget suggests that while the government has presented this as a growth and employment budget, a budget for the people, the policies do not reflect that.

Linguistic and cultural similarities also do not seem to have induced efforts to ensure equal treatment of the country's Hindu minority.

Justin Podur interviews Zia Mian.

Conventional wisdom has it that the results of the recent parliamentary elections in Pakistan have been a setback for President Musharraf. Is that really so?