Book Review: The Story of Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral by F.M Khan

Being a veteran of war and later a successful businessman F.M Khan wrote the story of Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral. This was about the war of freedom of Northern Areas of Pakistan. Khan in his book has described the various events leading to the change of government in Gilgit. The night of Oct 31 and 1 Nov 1947 has been discussed in particular, which led to the overthrow and arrest of the Dogra governor at Gilgit.

Quoting from various passages of Major Brown’s book, Khan believes that Major Brown was primarily working for the Dogra government up to the night of October 31, 1947. The author has recorded the events of the Gilgit revolution very honestly and has also admitted his own reluctant participation in the looting of Hindu shops in Gilgit after the revolt.

From 1860 to 1947 Northern areas was governed by British India and the Dogra state of Kashmir. The British Indian government had established schools, hospitals and had also installed telephone, telegram and post offices. Developments such as these were basically for the benefit of the colonizers.

Apart from that the history books in Pakistan are silent about Gilgit Baltistan. Khan has highlighted the ethnic and cultural diversity in the region also including ancient history and the various battles fought by the people of the region in the more recent history. These battles include the battles of Tragbal, Guraiz, Zojila, Drass, Kargil and Ladakh.

The book is of interest to students of politics, geography, history, warfare and strategic studies. Furthermore the main purpose of this book is to provide a way to future historians to expand upon the subject of Gilgit Baltistan and carry out detailed research.

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Book Review: A Short History of the Ismailis by Farhad Daftary

Ismailis are one of the major Shia Muslim communities of the world. Currently they are present in 25 countries of the world in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Until recently the Ismailis were studied on the accounts of their enemies. In 1930’s the study of Ismailism started to revolutionize, as the recovery of a large number of Ismaili text in private collections proved to be a catalyst.

Daftary’s book is part of the modern scholarship which has discussed the main developments and phases throughout the Ismaili history. These phases include the early formative phase, Fatimid phase, Alamut period, post-Alamut periods and the later modern developments in the Nizari Community after the 13^th century.

Major schisms that took place within Ismailism have also been discussed. The relations of Nizari Ismailis with the Sufis have also highlighted. Concepts such as dawa, dai, Taqiyya are explained in detail. Esoteric and exoteric concepts in Ismailism are made clear with reference to historical events and practices. This book critically examines the Ismaili historiography and is a concise survey to study for researchers to study.

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Book Review: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Mrs. Bennet is a mother of five daughters. She is keen to get her daughters married. Always in search of men for her daughters, she comes across two rich young men, Mr .Bingley and Mr. Darcy. 

Mr. Bingley friendly in nature and Darcy is too proud as every one notices him to be. Mr. Darcy meets Elizabeth Bennet and gets shocked by her family's behavior while Mr Wickham is believed to be true gentlemen whom Mr. Darcy has wronged. Relations between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth take a new turn when many new things come to surface.

On the other hand Wickham’s real face is exposed as Elizabeth finds out more about Mr. Darcy's pride.

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Book Review: The Gilgit Game by John Keay

The Gilgit game is a book about the exploration of Dardistan and of its virgin lands, by the hands of the British Empire. 

Dards were neither Indians, nor Tibetan nor of Turkish stock of Central Asia. Dardistan had various regions governed by different rulers. Strategically it had and still has an importance as many routes through this land are conducive for trade, business and military purposes. The British saw this area as a vacuum. For them this vacuum could either be a threat and in that case defense was the priority. 

The British and Russians wanted Dardistan to be part of their empires and for both of them it was a bone of contention now. John Keay, author of the book at many instances presents the reader with the exact text which the old travelers had recorded during their stay in the region. 

This gives one an insight to the geographical discoveries which were treated as top secret by the British Empire. Military expeditions were bluffed as geographical expeditions; the great game was being played in this part of the world as geographers and travelers visited this region.

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Book Review: The AKRSP- A Journey Through Grassroots Development by Shoaib Sultan Khan

Writen by Shoaib Sultan Khan,this book basically gives an account of events leading to the intiation of AKRSP in Pakistan.Khan who had previously worked with international development agencies was now called to explore one of the most remote and inaccesible regions in Pakistan. He had experience in working to improve the livelihoods of people of different regions. This involved many projects in the underdeveloped world. His experience of work included the Daudzai project, visit to Japan and Srilanka. Now he has been given the responsibilty to start a project in Northern Areas of Pakistan under the umbrella of AKDN.

Khan has stated the community development principles of Akhter Hameed Khan, who he proudly calls his mentor. At many instances he explains the difficulties encountered at different projects he had managed. The operational level details and the structure of AKRSP are thoroughly explained so that the grass root level involvement in the community development projects is easily shown. This participatory approach of development in rural areas could be followed by other community based organizations and international NGO’s to increase the success rates of projects and practice sustainable development.

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Book Review: Barack Obama Our 44th President by Beatrice Gormley

Barack Obama our 44th President gives the reader an outlook of Barrack Obama’s life. It reflects upon Obama’s early life as a child, as a student at Harvard, as how rose to the position of President of United States. Highlighting Obama’s life in Hawaii, Indonesia and US, the author explains the discrimination against the blacks, which was itself a subject of interest for Obama.

Working as a community organizer in the slums of Chicago shows his keen interest in social issues and activities on the community level. This book gives brief accounts of other various occasions in Obama’s life until he rose to the post of president of US.

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Book Review: The Iron Wall-Israel and the Arab World by Avi Shlaim

Avi Shlaim's book gives the reader an insight to the creation of the so called state of Israel, which has still survived for more than 60 years after its creation, despite the several wars with the Arab world. 

The Zionist foundations are highlighted, who claim living in the sacred land of Israel, to be their indigenous right .It further gives details of the leaders involved in the negotiations held at various points in Middle East. The role played by the Americans in appeasing the Israeli demands has also been mentioned, such as the case of the establishment of the nuclear plant in Israel. 

Israel on the other hand wanted to create a nuclear arsenal in order to gain a grip over the Middle Eastern states. The leaders of Israel felt threatened and somewhat wanted to be secure, so that events such as the holocaust never repeat again in history. 

The Israeli’s had developed conventional weapons and an air force which had raided Palestinian strong hold territories many times. American aid to Israel was another factor which showed their interest in developing better relations with Israel .Israel’s internal planning regarding its intelligence and bureaucracy has also been discussed. Events have been covered from the forcing of Palestinians to renounce their will to live in their own land, to the neighboring countries have also been highlighted. The reader gets a complete account of the Arab-Israel relations over the years and the ups and downs during those years.

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Book Review: You Can Excel in Times of Change by Shad Helmstetter

This book is basically an attempt by the writer, to force upon the reader the importance of change in an indivual’s life. 
He explains the practical steps to overcome the problems which any change can bring along with it.The change could be in any form. It could be regarding one’s health, education, job, relationship and any other kind of loss. 
Accepting change, and dealing with it positively has been stressed upon .The plan involved in tackling the change efficiently is in itself a positive step towards dealing with the change.

 At various places, in the book questionnaires have been given in order to evaluate oneself and make one adjust much better to the evolving changes.

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Book Review: Some Questions on Feminism and Its Relevance in South Asia by Kamla Bhasin, Nighat Said Khan

This forty six page book highlights the role of women in our society. In addition to that it informs the readers about the neglected women in the society as a whole. It answers different questions about feminism.

Freedom, equality and independence are the topics under discussion in this book reagrding women. At places it compares man and woman, according to their responsibilities and part played in our society. 

At one instance, it informs the reader that a male can also be a feminist. Reference to ancient historical, cultural and religious accounts has been stated, such as the role of church in Europe. And practices in Hindu religion, forcing women to sacrifice her for the sake of traditions have also been stated. It tries to enforce on the reader that women should be provided with more rights.

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Book Review: Talks of Akhter Hameed Khan

This Eighty-five-page book outlines the dialogue sessions that took place between Akhter Hameed Khan and the NRSP staff. AHK shares his own experiences in the field of rural development ranging from the Orange Pilot project in West Pakistan and Comilla project East Pakistan. 

At various places he mentions and explains the problems faced by various community development projects mostly in the developing world. In Pakistan’s case, he compares and contrasts the reasons of failure for some projects. 

 Relying heavily on foreign aid, according to him is basically the beginning of the end for the programs. Some factors of his life, such as his education have also been brought to the light. Accompanied by Shoaib Sultan Khan, Akhter Hameed responds to the questions of social organizers, regional managers of different areas. Problems ranging from micro finance to the construction of sewerage lines have been mentioned. 

His talks cover upon various themes including subject of agriculture, public administration, economics, microfinance, basic infrastructure and irrigation schemes in Pakistan. He included Urdu and Persian poetry at various instances in his talks while emphasizing on the need for improvement. The involvement of the local populace in the development of a region is what matters the most, which according to AHK is the only key to success.

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