By Dr Syed Fai Two important gatherings at the United Nations Headquarters in New York this April have brought renewed attention to a principle that lies at the very core of international law: the right of peoples to self-determination. On April 20, 2026, a conference titled “Self-Determination in Times of Peace and Conflict: Internal Relations and Indigenous Diplomacies” convened scholars, diplomats, and a ...

‏1. تھر کی جھونپڑی اور ٹوٹی چپل‏تھرپارکر، سندھ۔ ریت اڑاتی دوپہر۔ 14 سال کی نور بانو۔ باپ اونٹ چراتا تھا، ماں لوگوں کے گھر کام کرتی۔ جھونپڑی میں بجلی نہیں، پانی 3 کلومیٹر دور سے لانا پڑتا۔ ‏نور کی چپل ٹوٹ گئی تھی۔ ننگے پاؤں ریت پر چل کر اسکول جاتی۔ استانی نے پوچھا: "بڑی ہو کر کیا بنو گی؟"‏نور نے دھول سے اٹے ہاتھ اٹھائے: "باجی، کمشنر۔ جو حکم چلائے، لوگوں کی سنے۔"‏پوری کلاس ہنس پڑی۔ استانی بھی۔ "غریبوں کے خواب ...

By Asif Haroon Pakistan has, once again, stepped into the global spotlight—this time not as a peripheral actor, but as a pivotal intermediary in one of the most volatile geopolitical confrontations of the present era. Under the leadership of Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s military establishment has emerged as a key interlocutor between Washington and Tehran. Within a remarkably short span, Islamabad a ...

By Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai Early this morning, I received a call from a longtime friend—his voice heavy with grief. He spoke of the life imprisonment of Mrs. Aasiya Andrabi and the decades-long sentences handed to Mrs. Sofi Fameeda and Mrs. Nahida Nasreen and then, almost instinctively, asked a question that transported me back three decades: “Is Asiya Andrabi related to Jalil Andrabi?” The question lingered—no ...

by Dr. Syed Fai Washington, DC-based World Kashmir Awareness Forum (WKAF) condemns the inhuman life imprisonment verdict issued by Modi regime’s National Intelligence Agency (NIA) against the popular Kashmiri political leader, Mrs. Asiya Andrabi along with two other prominent female Kashmiri political activists, Mrs. Sofi Fameeda and Mrs. Nahida Nasreen on March 24, 2026. 64 year old Asiya Andrabi, founder ...

By Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai When the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) opened its thirtieth session in Geneva on March 9, 2026 (will continue until March 19, 2026), it did so under a powerful and urgent slogan: “Victims First. Immediate Action.” The theme could not have been more timely. Across many regions of the world, enforced disappearances continue to devastate families and undermine ...

By Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai It is perfectly acceptable to be a dreamer. Throughout history, dreamers have inspired societies to imagine a better future—one defined by justice, dignity, and peace. But what becomes deeply troubling is when those dreams are imposed upon others as reality, even when the lived experiences of people suggest otherwise. A dream, when forced upon a population as truth, becomes a narrativ ...

By Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai The seventieth session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) opened on March 9, 2026, at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Established in 1946 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Commission remains the world’s foremost intergovernmental body dedicated to advancing gender equality and protecting the rights of women and girls. ...