Daily Times

Oxford University Press (OUP) has published fivew new books, the details of which are following.

A Concise History of Pakistan

Muhammad Reza Kazimi

This is a comprehensive one-volume history of Pakistan covering contemporary crises in the perspective of the subcontinent’s ancient and medieval history to explain how Muslim nationalism emerged and how the community interacted with the other communities in the region. Covering the centuries from Mehergarh to Musharraf, the author breaches the confines of political history to depict the intellectual, economic, diplomatic, and cultural history of Pakistan.

The All-India Muslim League, 1906-1947- A Study of Leadership in the Evolution of a Nation

Mary Louise Becker

In this book, the author takes Pakistan as a case study in a search for better definitions of nations and nationalism, arguing that it exhibits three essential ingredients which are: a distinctive integrated community, a particular set of circumstances, and purposeful leadership. She discusses all three elements within the local context, concentrating particularly on the evolving leadership role of the All-India Muslim League as evidenced in contemporary sources.

Governing the Ungovernable- Institutional Reforms for Democratic Governance

Ishrat Husain

This book attempts to examine the reasons behind the slowdown of Pakistan’s annual economic growth rate, the volatile and inequitable growth of the last twenty-five years, and through a process of theoretical and empirical evidence argues that the most powerful explanatory hypothesis lies in the decay of institutions of governance. It also suggests a selective and incremental approach of restructuring some key public institutions that pertain to accountability, transparency, security, economic growth, and equity.

Jamal Mian- The Life of Maulana Jamaluddin Abdul Wahab of Farangi Mahall, 1919-2012

Francis Robinson

This book relates the life of Jamal Mian Farangi Mahalli, a highly respected scion of Lucknow’s scholarly culture and a major leader of the Pakistan Movement. Based on the archives left by Jamal Mian, it explores his life as a member of Farangi Mahall, South Asia’s leading family of Islamic learning from Lucknow. The author covers the colourful life of Jamal Mian from his education in the Dars-i Nizami and the spiritual traditions of his family to his rise to the Muslim League High Command, and his involvement in the campaign for Pakistan.

A Cry for Justice- Empirical Insights from Balochistan

Kaiser Bengali

This book empirically documents five different aspects of under-development and deprivation in Balochistan: gas pricing, federal development expenditure, federal social protection, federal civil service, and structure of electoral representation. It is the first attempt to detail the facts of systematic conomic exploitation, discrimination, and neglect that Balochistan has shouldered and continues to face-minus the fiction of imagined wrongs.

Published in Daily Times, March 23^rd 2018.