The problem of nationalities in Pakistan has caused great confusion, hatred and bloodshed over the last few years. Those who demand rights for their people, are branded as traitors and accused of conspiring to break up Pakistan. Similarly, those who disregard the existence of ethnic groups, cultural entities and nationalities other than their own are called “oppressors and chauvinists” by others.

Many observers believe that the national question is the most important and urgent problem facing Pakistan today. However, despite this realization, there is very little concrete analysis highlighting the real (as opposed to the perceived) problems that exist in the various regions in the country. A great deal of ‘research’ is impressionistic, speculative and conjectural, and results in intellectual and political confusion.

The purpose of this book is to provide empirical evidence about the real economic and political conditions in different regions of the country. It is hoped that the data and the opinions of the eminent scholars who have contributed to this collection will provoke debate to clarify existing confusions and provide a correct direction to theory and practice.
ISBN: 9694020611
Publisher: VANGUARD BOOKS

This book deals with one of the most essential conditions of human existence: the health of individuals and society. The author has described the multi-faceted structure of health care in Pakistan at great length and has then identified and highlighted the results of this health system on the people of the country. He uses a Marxist framework and shows how the exploitation and domination of a small minority in the economic structure of society is mirrored in the health structure of the country. He argues that the existing economic and political situation in Pakistan has resulted in a model of health care which is elitist, western-oriented, and suited to the needs of a handful of well-to-do people. The author shows how this elitist bias is predominant in the numerous layers of the model, and issues, such as medical education, the social background of medical students, the geographical location of health facilities and doctors, etc., are all analyzed within this perspective. He shows convincingly, that the goal “health for all by the year 2000”, given the existing class structure in Pakistan, is an impossibility. To achieve health for all, or for even the majority of the people in Pakistan or any other underdeveloped capitalist country, one needs, as a prerequisite, to change the existing economic, social and political structure which gives birth to the particular inequitable model of health care. Only then can one have the beginnings of a more just and equitable society and hope for health for all.
ISBN: 9694020026
Publisher: VANGUARD BOOKS