This paper focuses on the history of Islamic studies and the growth of Muslim edification scheme subsequent to the arrival of Islam in South Asia (712 A.D) and also explores the key role played by the Emperors in its establishment since 1206 A.D. Thereafter, it will highlight the efforts of Muslim rulers in introducing religious-cum-modern education system through Madrassah (religious seminaries) in Indo-Pakistan Sub-continent including the period of British-India from 1757 to 1947 A.D. which adversely affected the Muslim education system by introducing foreign educational reforms to target the curriculum of the Islamic education system. The paper will shed light on the development of Madrassahin Pakistan and the 9/11 incident that has drastically affected the image of the religious seminaries in imparting Islamic education to the people in the global community.

Quality of higher education institutes determines the future of any nation. Higher education commission (HEC) has strived hard to elevate the standards of higher education in Pakistan but desired results have not been redeemed. This article endeavors to highlight barriers in the implementation of quality assurance mechanism devised by HEC and higher education institutes (HEIs) to improve quality of both teaching and research. Data were collected from 204 Government sector and 205 faculty members of private sector universities in the Punjab Province and the Capital Islamabad. T-test for independent sample was applied to find the dissimilarities in the views of government sector and faculty members of private universities about hurdles in the quality assurance procedure adopted by their respective universities. It was revealed that inconsistent policies, ambiguous targets and lack of training regarding quality assurance practices were main hurdles.

Civil-military relations in Pakistan are always in search of common ground. Historically, military forces and civilian leadership in Pakistan struggle to find the right balance and the civilian leadership has hardly commanded the gun. This study is intended to analyze that how the two selected daily English newspapers of Pakistan, i.e. Dawn and The News covered the major developments in civil-military relations, particularly during the regime of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, followed by the most sensitive event i.e., Zarb-e-Azb. The study employed the method of discourse analysis and has used the theoretical notion of agenda-setting and framing. The results of the study revealed that the slant, style, themes, and discourses used in the news stories of both the newspapers almost remained the same, appreciating the military institutions positively. Whereas condemning the civilian leadership for their lack of concern towards implementing the already approved Nation Action Plan.

A major health policy concern is the presence of inefficiencies in health care provision. This study estimates the technical efficiency for ambulatory services and inpatients care in private sector hospitals in Pakistan. Efficiency scores for the sample hospitals, estimated using Stochastic Frontier Analysis, are aggregated at the regional (district) level to identify the existence of spatial interdependence. The results from the spatial analysis suggest that efficiency has a positive spillover for outpatient care in small hospitals. Big hospitals, however, show inconsistent results. We concluded that small hospitals compete in outpatients with the motive of profit maximization.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) traces the evolution of Changezs sense of belonging by encompassing a substantial part of his life odyssey, ranging from his movement to the US for higher studies to his disillusionment and redirection of fundamental desires. This study explores those transformative stages that help shape his identity. For this purpose, James Marcias theory of identity achievement has been used as a theoretical framework. Marcia (1980) contends that certain situations and events (called crises) act as catalysts to prompt identity moratorium. The internal conflict caused by such catalysts stimulates adolescents to probe into their beliefs, goals and values. Changez also encounters the four statuses described by Marcia i.e., identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and final achievement. Consequently, a refraction in his sense of belonging takes place - from love for American exceptionalism to love for Pakistan and Islam (Morey, 2011). This study evaluates the level of identity achievement in Changez as a result of this refraction

The political debates are the major indicators to open a dialogue and to set the tone of politics in society. The elections' debates in Pakistan are directly linked with the nature of the state and its ideological and elite composition. The post-colonial state structure and its reflection in electoral politics is a dominant determining factor which led to induce order through objectifying in existing electoral status quo. The dominant forces on the electoral scene have the power to interpret the existing knowledge production and debate for their own interest. Both objectivities and subjectivities in which electoral debates operate are in control of the post-colonial state structure. This paper is an attempt to explore the articulation of electoral debates in academic knowledge production. Further, how does existing academic debate explain the nature of electoral politics? Why?The purposively selected academic debates on elections revolved around functionalist and interpretivist paradigms influenced by the existing debate between subjectivity and objectivity. The descriptive method has been applied in exploring a research question under study.

The evolution and growth of press in the Subcontinent revolutionized the flow of information and propagation of political activities. All-India Muslim League went through the process of reorganization in the late 1930's and the new political resolve needed more publicity and propaganda to expand further among the masses. League handled the need of the hour by starting its party-owned newspapers while the provincial Leagues and some of the League organs launched their newspapers to publicize policy and program of the party. The major share in the press came from the Leaguers and pro League newspapers from all over India. The last phase of the freedom movement witnessed the emergence of a more radical and outspoken press in support of the demand for Pakistan. Overseas publicity and press remained weak ground for League due it financial constraints. The Middle East zone was omnipresent in League's activities due to its Islamist stance.England publicity wing started working quite late but it remained successful in making a mark over the minds of the public. The American front was neglected and only a few appearances were available to propagate League and its demand for Pakistan.

Issues faced by the Christians of Punjab on various occasions have been reported by the media; however, they have been on the rise in recent years. Media organizations aim to provide coverage and address minorities issues, and also follow policies and procedures for better interest of all involved. This research paper attempts to look into the policies of electronic media organizations as well as the media regulatory body regarding coverage of issues faced by the Christians. In-depth interviews of officials in policymaking; four from media and two from the electronic media regulatory authority resulted that the authority has clear written policies for media content as to the coverage of minorities issues which is to avoid any coverage inciting hatred or fear among people. It also brings forth media’s unwritten policies and practices with regards to covering issues related to Pakistan Christian minority and priorities given to the coverage.

This study investigates the underlying reasons behind the limited offering of micro-takaful(insurance) products by takaful operators in Pakistan and suggests solutions to enhance thegrowth of micro-takaful products in the country. The study is qualitative in nature. The researchers conducted atotal of twenty (20) semi-structured interviews of relevant Islamic finance practitioners (5 sales heads, 5 businessheads, 5 product development heads, and 5 sales agents) working at all five takaful operators (Dawood FamilyTakaful Ltd., Pak-Qatar General Takaful, Pak-Qatar Family Takaful, Pak Kuwait Takaful, Takaful Pakistan Limited)operating in Pakistan. NVIVO 12 software was used for generating items, codes, word clouds and text searchqueries. According to the findings of this study, the issues faced by practitioners include the poor financialcondition of the public, lack of sufficient funds with takaful operators, lack of cooperation among takaful operators,lack of customer awareness and interest, lack of takaful experts and diversified takaful products, absence of aculture of takaful practices, and lack of research and product development in the field of micro-takaful.Academicians should develop suitable micro-takaful products according to the needs of the public, and theregulator can require takaful operators to offer micro-takaful products.

Electoral symbols have a significant role in electoral campaigns. Political parties used stamps to propagate their political stance and to organize political behavior around their programs. The political symbolism demonstrates different meanings to different people due to their socio-political orientations.Some political parties tried to use electoral symbols more proactively than others. These multi-layered meanings led to the articulate political interests of social groups. There are many questions unanswered regarding the impact and use of the political symbol. Can election symbols influence particular areas more than the rest of the country? Does electoral symbol matter in electoral victory? This paper is an attempt to explore the politics and use of symbols in electoral politics. In the electoral politics of Pakistan, the study of electoral symbols is unique due to its multiple uses in highly polarized electoral contexts. The study concludes that political parties use electoral symbols tactfully to maximize their vote bank. A qualitative approach has been used to investigate a core question