Syncretic and shared religious spaces have long been perceived as reflections of tolerance. This does not imply that tolerance is completely liberated from multiple clashing components and the coexistence of interfaith practices do not suggest that hostility is entirely missing. In recent times, a transformation is taking place at the shared space of the Jhule Lal by the dominant religious group. However, there remains an appearance of tolerance at the shared space of the Jhule Lal among believers of both Islam and Hinduism, which blinds the observer of the deep internal contestation and process of transformation between both Sindhi Hindus and Sindhi Muslims who revere the same saint of the Jhule Lal. A syncretic space does not simply absorb different religious groups, and by studying the practices, rituals and interactions of the custodians, visitors and devotees at the shrine, this paper aims to unearth the processes through which shrine is contested in multiple identities, discourse (written, textual, verbal) authority, and belief systems.

Empowering women has come to be seen as a primary means to achieve women’s development in the discourse of development and policy initiatives. This has led to greater attention than before on the questions that expand the conventional understanding of empowerment itself. Much consideration has been given to answering these questions. What, however, has been ignored is the due emphasis on labour rights. The studies conducted by the feminists in the recent years have not only expanded the understanding of empowerment but have also highlighted the challenges and barriers to achieving it. Despite the fact that almost all studies have referred to the issue of weak enforcement of labour laws, the workings of development agencies do not reflect a keen commitment to this issue, in particular issue. With this backdrop, this paper reviews the existing development literature on empowerment and maps the ways in which empowerment has been measured using macro-economic indices like Gender Inequality Index (GII), Gender Disparity Index (GDI) and Gender Gap Index (GGI). It identifies the discrepancies and contradictions in the evaluations that data generated from these indices, arguing that ‘instrumentalist feminist goals,’ which are achieved through a top-down policy-level approach, are often at odds with ‘micro-level’ qualitative assessments of economic empowerment. The paper concludes with casting doubt on the compatibility of ‘development’ with women’s economic empowerment as it ignores the concomitant discussion on labour rights. It also ponders whether this omission is serving the needs of global capitalism and offers an insight into the deliberate or an unintentional oversight by the development actors.

This paper explores the conflicting relationship between feminism and nationalism by probing into the perception which views women as merely symbols of biological repository of a nation. This formulation is temporarily suspended during nationalist struggles, where women’s support was needed to show unity of identity driven by common objectives. Once independence was achieved, women were expected to stop being comrades in the nationalist struggle and return to being biological and ideological repositories of the nation itself. The political struggles of the Muslim women in the pre and post-independence Pakistan have been used as a case in point. The 20th century social reform movement, the Pakistan Movement and post-independence political struggles, till the end of the century, reflect how a masculine nation-state attempts to limit women’s political and legal rights: the same nation-state that was born as a result of the struggles of women alongside their men.

First created in the context of state-controlled broadcast television of the 1960s, the Urdu serial drama form has proven enduringly popular in Pakistan. This article examines how institutional changes, including the appearance of nongovernmental organisations in this space, have altered the production and reception of these serial dramas and their thematic content, which has recently included such highly charged topics as sexual abuse, harassment and rape. First, I look at how transnationally funded content has impacted modes of production in a liberalised and deregulated Pakistani television industry. Second, I give a case study of the internationally funded drama serial Udaari as an example of agenda setting television intended to create public dialogue and galvanise change, to which I give the name feminist edutainment (FE) that intentionally recalls the form of entertainment education (EE) associated with the work of Miguel Sabido. Finally, I draw on my ethnographic research to argue that contemporary serial dramas, while engaging a domestic reception space primarily occupied by women, have expanded into the online space through the social media activism of feminist influencers.