Pakistani Nationals Research Articles

UNHAPPY HUSBANDS: MASCULINITY AND MIGRATION IN TRANSNATIONAL PAKISTANI MARRIAGES

This article, based on fieldwork in the Pakistani Punjab and with predominantly Punjabi families in Bristol, is concerned with the common practice of British Pakistanis marrying Pakistani nationals. Informants stress the risks that such marriages hold for women, but this research highlights the social, cultural, and economic difficulties faced by migrant husbands, comparing their position to that of the ghar damad (house son-in-law). Whilst women are instructed from a young age on the adjustments the move to their husband's household will entail, male migrants are often unprepared for this situation. A lack of local kin support can combine with the culturally unusual proximity of the wife's family to restructure gendered household relations of power. Frustrations experienced by such men may help to explain instances where such marriages have ended in the husband's violence, desertion, or taking a second wife, but the model of the unhappy ghar damad is also significant in understanding the experiences of many other migrant men and their British wives.

Lack of association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase 677C>T mutation with coronary artery disease in a Pakistani population

Pakistanis belong to the South Asian population which has the highest known rate of coronary artery disease. Folic acid deficiency also appears to be highly prevalent in this population. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C>T polymorphism decreases the activity of this enzyme and can be associated with mild to moderate hyperhomocysteinemia in homozygotes, particularly when there is folic acid deficiency, as well as with coronary artery disease. To assess the value of genotyping the MTHFR 677C>T dimorphism, we carried out a case-control study of dimorphism 677C>T for putative association with myocardial infarction (MI) among Pakistani nationals. We investigated a sample population of 622 Pakistanis consisting of 225 controls and 397 patients with clinical diagnosis of acute MI (AMI). MTHFR C677T alleles were determined by assays based on polymerase chain reaction and restriction endonuclease analysis. Frequencies of C alleles were 0.87 among controls and 0.86 among AMI patients. The MTHFR 677C>T dimorphism showed no association with MI (chi(2) = 0.25, 1df, P=0.62), serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 and plasma level of vitamin B6. A significant association, however, was found between homozygous 677T genotype and plasma levels of homocysteine. Multivariate analysis of the data showed that in case of log homocysteine, age and MTHFR genotypes were significantly different (P<0.001). In case of B12, smoking and age were found to be statistically significant (P<0.001), while in case of serum folate only smoking was found to be significant (P<0.001). The results indicate that MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism, though associated with homocysteine levels, confers no significant risk of coronary artery disease in the Pakistani population investigated here. We suggest that the higher incidence of AMI in South Asia occurs through mechanisms other than the MTHFR related pathways.

Myth of the Monolith: The Challenge of Diversity in Pakistan

The paper seeks to study the challenges faced by the Pakistani state from the perspective of its vast ethno-cultural diversity which problematises the process of-nation building attempted by the Pakistani leadership since its very inception. The paper starts with a rudimentary definitional view of the concept of ethnicity and nationalism, and isolates the areas of friction in the way the Pakistani nation has been conceptualised and the way diverse ethno-cultural groups have evolved their identity through history.

Association study of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene G2350A dimorphism with myocardial infarction.

The angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is a strong candidate gene for myocardial infarction (MI). Insertion-deletion dimorphism in intron 16 of this gene has been inconclusively found to be associated with it. Several new polymorphisms in the ACE gene have been identified and among these, a dimorphism in exon 17, ACE G2350A, has a significant effect on plasma ACE concentrations. To assess the value of genotyping the ACE G2350A dimorphism in a genetically homogeneous population, we carried out a case-control study of dimorphism G2350A for a putative association with MI among Pakistani nationals. We investigated a sample population of 370 Pakistanis, comprising 163 controls, and 207 patients with clinical diagnosis of acute MI (AMI). ACE G2350A alleles were visualized by assays based on polymerase chain reaction and restriction endonuclease analysis. Frequencies of G alleles were 0.68 among controls and 0.72 among AMI patients. The ACE G2350A dimorphism showed no significant association with MI (chi2 = 0.90, 2 df, P = 0.64), plasma levels of homocysteine (P = 0.52) or with serum levels of folate (P = 0.299). The results indicate that ACE G2350A polymorphism is not associated with risk of myocardial infarction in the Pakistani population investigated here.

Military Islamisation in Pakistan and the spectre of colonial perceptions

This article interprets General Zia ul‐Haq's Islamisation policies as the working of a political identity conditioned largely by its colonial roots. Pakistani nationalism and the ethos of the Pakistan Army were the most important formative elements of the state's military consciousness. In both elements, colonial patterns of thought are prevalent. The largely unchanged social practices of the Pakistan armed forces today are responsible for the preservation of a colonial logic of political manipulation: the vast majority of the indigenous population is perceived as a stagnant, backward and politically immature mass governed by religious sentiments, while legitimate politics remain the privilege of a Westernised elite. Like the administrations of the British, Yahya Khan and Ayub Khan, that of Zia ul‐Haq believed that the ‘common Pakistani’ was inherently religious and used religious symbolism to help legitimise its rule. The difference between the ideological stand of Pakistan's third military regime and its predecessors is not a qualitative one. Only because Zia had to come to terms with a relatively more difficult political situation than his predecessors did he push the logic of religious manipulation to its most extreme form.

HIV/AIDS and its risk factors in Pakistan

Pakistan currently reports a low prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Concern over the potential for an expanded HIV epidemic in the country is mainly due to segments of the Pakistani population who engage in high-risk practices a low level of public knowledge about HIV/AIDS dangerous blood transfusion and inoculation practices and Pakistans proximity to India a country which has experienced a rapid increase in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. The limited data currently available on HIV/AIDS prevalence in Pakistan are presented. By November 1996 64 cases of AIDS had been reported to Pakistans National AIDS Program. However the World Health Organization estimated that by the end of 1994 there were really 40000 people infected with HIV. Data from point-prevalence studies suggest that foreign and Pakistani nationals who have either worked abroad or as seafarers may comprise a sizeable proportion of the recognized HIV/AIDS cases. The studies also documented cases of HIV infection among people with multiple sex partners blood transfusion recipients and prisoners. Heterosexual contact appears to be the dominant mode of viral transmission. Lifestyle risk factors and health care practices which contribute to HIV transmission are described.

Pakastani Nationalism Reconsidered

T HE NATIONALISM that led to the establishment of Pakistan in i947 was accepted as theoretically sound or practically feasible only by the large number of Indian Muslims themselves and their very few foreign supporters.1 Just as strange as its theoretical foundation was the actual state it created-truncated and bifurcated into two parts separated by a thousand miles of Indian territory. The uniqueness of this nationalism lay in its fundamental conception, for its bases were not territorial; they were in fact community separatism and religion-derived nationality. It was also unique in the manner in which it was developed towards its objective and achieved it, for its proponents neither occupied the land they demanded nor had they even lived together in the past. Yet, within less than a quarter-century, Pakistan, the unique monument to this unique nationalism, has not only suffered the normal agonies of nation-building but has now been torn asunder, with the majority province seceding from the minority province. Pakistan is thus unique even in her dismemberment. The unique basis of this nationalism alone would be sufficient reason to re-examine it today, but in addition the emergence of a new Bengali nationalism-rejecting both Muslim separatism and religion-derived nationality-and the establishment of Bangladesh in I97I make a reconsideration even more pertinent. This article endeavours to analyze the basic premises of Pakistani nationalism and the implications of the split on the nationalism of those who still cling to the original concept. Nationalism is an illusory concept and difficult to define. To an academic it is an object of inquiry, to a politician a tool to be used for political purposes, and as the purpose varies so does the interpretation. Most academics, however, tend to agree that nationalism expresses preference for the competitive interests of the in-group and its members over those of all outsiders in a world of social mobility and economic competition, dominated by the values of wealth, power and prestige, so that the goals of personal security and group identification appear bound up with the group's attainment of these values.2 As such, nationalism in general, but more so the

Goiter in Gandhara

To the Editor:— Your issue for Sept 28, 1964, arrived yesterday [Dec 1, 1964]. I always enjoy the contact with stateside medicine, even if same is delayed. The communication by Dr. Blumberg on Goiter in Gandhara ( 189: 1008) attracted my attention because for the past years we have lived in and near this ancient territory. It is a fascinating region and offers great opportunity for study. Our experience does not confirm the observations made on page 1011 relative to the prevalence of goiter in this area. Currently, we have more than 12,000 Pakistani nationals employed. Further, through the past 2 1/2 years we have had for short-term employment another 20,000 men. All of these have had preemployment examinations at which time the neck is palpated for goiter. These employees are drawn largely from northern West Pakistan or Azad Kashmir. Hazara, Kagan Valley, Swat, Peshawar, Muzafarabad, and Kashmir are principal areas