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Abstract Afghanistan is the country in the world with the most SALW (small arms and light weapons). Contrary to what is usually assumed, the proliferation of modern firearms in the country did not start in the 1980s, but at the end of the 19th century, when Pashtun tribes acquired modern rifles and ammunition through a variety of means, mostly through smuggling. The paper investigates the illegal arms trade from the Gulf to the north-western Indian Frontier, an area of crucial importance for British imperial strategists and the Government of India, at a time of great power rivalry and a relative decline of Britain's global influence.

An ethnobotanical field study focusing on traditional wild food botanical taxa was carried out in Kaniguram, South Waziristan, Pakistan, among Ormur (or Burki or Baraki) peoples, which represent a diasporic minority group, as well as among the surrounding Pashtuns. Through sixty semi-structured interviews, fifty-two wild food plants (taxa) were recorded, and they were primarily used raw as snacks and cooked as vegetables. Comparative analysis found a remarkable overlap of the quoted plant uses between the two studied groups, which may reflect complex socio-cultural adaptations Ormur speakers faced. Ormur people retain a rich knowledge of anthropogenic weeds and the phytonyms reveal important commonalities with Persian and Kurdish phytonyms, which may indicate their possible horticultural-driven human ecological origin from the Middle East. Some novel or rare food uses of Cirsiumarvense, Nannorrhops ritchiana, Periploca aphylla, Perovskia atriplicifolia, Viscum album,Oxalis corniculata and Withania coagulans were documented. Since the Ormuri language represents a moribund language, still spoken by only a few thousand speakers in NW Pakistan and Afghanistan, it is recommended that the traditional bio-cultural and gastronomical heritage of this minority group be appropriately protected and bolstered in future rural development programs.

In the second decade of the 21 st century, the emergence of Pashtun Tahafuz (protection) Movement (PTM), among the tribes of Waziristan, rose to talk about the rights of Pashtuns after major military operations against the militants in doing so challenging government policies in the erstwhile tribal areas. The research has thoroughly investigated reasons of the emergence and popularity of PTM, its achievements and political ecosystem. The study has employed new social movement and asymmetric federalism theories. The study has argued that the protracted conflict coupled with government policies of securitization in erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan and feeling of discrimination among the Pashtun youth has led to the creation of a pro-Pashtun movement in 2018. The movement has been kept nonviolent, promotes progressive values and provides an alternate platform for the youth to address grievances thus halting their enrollment within militant groups. The paper utilises ethnographic-based data collection tools, such as semi-structured interviews, informal discussions and personal observations to reach its findings. This study considers the emergence of the PTM in the erstwhile FATA since 2018 with a special attention for (North and South) Waziristan which forms half of the territory of the erstwhile FATA and wherein the movement took its origin. Based on qualitative data and field research conducted in Waziristan (both North and South) between December 2019 and January 2020, the study explores the dynamics that turned the movement into a leading actor in the social and political life in Waziristan and beyond. The finding suggests that the emergence of PTM as a leftist, secular and peaceful movement progressively adds a new dimension to what was traditionally considered as the 'Pashtun identity', and that is defined by aggressivity, a strict adherence to Islam and the reference to an immutable cultural code known as Pashtunwali.

The complicated process of the Pashtun tribes’ conversion to Islam is indirectly reflected in tribal genealogies, which bear traces of artificial Islamification. Recorded in the early 17th century, these genealogies are poorly consistent with apocryphal Hadiths and hagiographies intended to prove that Pashtuns had steadily adhered to Sunni Islam since the times of the Prophet Muḥammad. The politicised concept of the primordial adherence of Pashtuns to Islam was likely to have been released for wide circulation during the reign of the Lodī sultans in the late 15th century. By the mid-17th century, it became an integral part of Pashtun ethnic identity. However, written sources in Pashto and Persian dating from the same period and originating from tribal areas are unanimous in describing Pashtuns’ religious beliefs and practices as a motley assemblage of Pīrī-murīdī and Pīrparastī customs conforming to the tribalistic ideology of a segmentary Islamic society. More sophisticated forms of Pashtuns’ tribal Islam emerged with the progress of literature in the native vernacular.

The tribal Pashtuns of Pakistan, based in the Afghanistan–Pakistan border region, have historically been portrayed as “violent” and “warrior-like,” both in the colonial and contemporary literature. However, a brief review of archival literature suggests that oriental representation of tribal Pashtuns is based on various generalizations that were formed and propagated during the British military expeditions against the tribal Pashtuns. Moreover, these generalizations and stereotypes against the tribal Pashtuns have persisted since Pakistan’s independence in 1947. Recent developments in Pakistan’s Pashtun tribal belt, with various tribes convening Jirga meetings, condemning and countering militant activities and protesting against the state’s injustices explain the importance and desire for peace among the tribal Pashtuns. Finally, a brief analysis of the recently started Pashtun Tahafuz (protection) movement (PTM), an indigenous peace and human rights movement involving both men and women, and its nonviolent nature also reinforces the importance of peace for the tribal Pashtuns.

Available essays on Pashtunwali describe this system of customary laws and ethics for the most part as a static model of ideal conduct, without a diachronic perspective. Offering a historical approach to Pashtunwali, this article introduces and analyzes fragmentary data on the nənawāte custom from early modern Pashto sources—historiographical narratives of the Khatak chieftains in the Tarikh-i Murassaʿ (finished 1724) and the romantic poem Adam Khan aw Durkhaney (1706/7). Recorded cases of resorting to nənawāte, considered among the main pillars of Pashtunwali but still variously interpreted, prove that this is a complex legal custom based on the right to appeal for protection, mediation, and reconciliation. As a common means of dispute settlement, nənawāte originates with a binding request for help and favor in a conflict situation. The discussion of nənawāte is preceded by a brief overview of the existing scholarly definitions of Pashtunwali, underscoring its emic perception as an ethnic identity marker.

Herein, we reported mutations in five DNA Damage Repair (DDR) i.e., TP53 , ATR , ATM , CHEK1 and CHEK2 involved in OSCC using NG-WES and their analysis using bioinformatics tools. Out of 42 identified mutations, 16.7% are reported for the 1st time. A total of 28 nonsynonymous SNVs are identified. TP53 harbored the highest number of mutations followed by ATM , ATR , CHEK1 and CHEK2 . Nine mutations ( TP53 p.R43H , TP53 p.L125Q , TP53 p.R116Q , TP53 p.C110Y , TP53 p.L62F , ATR p.H120Y , ATM p.P1054R , ATM p.D1853V , ATM p.T2934N ) were predicted highly pathogenic. SAAFEQ-SEQ predicted destabilizing effects for all mutations, while ISPRED-SEQ identified 09 IS mutations, 07 on TP53 , 01 in ATR and 01 in CHEK1 with no IS mutations predicted for ATM and CHEK2 . Among the IS mutations, only SNVs were used in MDS simulations. The gyration radius for all IS SNVs was larger for mutant as compared to the wild type indicating perturbed folding behavior of the mutant proteins. Structural deviations across the carbon back bone were noted by RMSD for mutant and wild type. The TP53 IS mutations include TP53 p.R116Q , TP53 p.C110Y , TP53 p.R43H , TP53 p.E214X , TP53 p.R210X , TP53 p.C110Afs*5 and TP53 p,S108Ffs*23 whereas ATR and CHEK1 IS mutations consist of ATR p.M1932T and CHEK1 p.E76Kfs*21 . ConSurf analysis revealed four SNVs with a high conservation score (9) on TP53 and ATM. TP53 p.P33R was predominantly associated with moderately differentiated tumors (84.60%), naswar users (86.60%) and positive family history of cancer (91.60%). The TP53 p.P33R , ATR p.M211T and CHEK1 p.I437V mutations were found recurrently in 21/27 (77.7%), 20/27 (74.04%), and 27/27 (100%) patients, suggesting its potential biomarker applications in local screening.

This article examines the settlement experiences of Afghan women refugees following their migration into the UK. The findings highlight how violence and oppression depicted many of the women’s experiences prior to seeking asylum. This was found to persist when the women gained asylum in the UK, as many continued to face severe and enduring violence within their family, from both men and other women, as traditional patriarchal values involving physical and psychological violence remained. However, the findings indicated that violence within the home was less prevalent among women from the Hazara ethnic group who held a higher educational background. The research was designed within an interpretivist paradigm of inquiry, and qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted in Dari and English languages, with 15 Afghan refugee women, based at a London refugee centre. The resulting data was analysed using thematic analysis. Reflecting the findings of a number of international reports on women’s status in Afghanistan, the findings highlighted their experiences of violence and oppression in their home country prior to seeking asylum. The article concludes with an emphasis on practitioners recognising the potential risks of violence and abuse female Afghan refugees face within their own homes.

Despite the availability of various antihypertensive medications, the response to these medications varies among individuals. Understanding how individual genetic variations affect drugs treatment outcomes is a key area of focus in precision medicine. This study investigated the correlation between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in selected genes (CACNA1C, CACNA1D, ABCB1, ACE, ADBR2, and NOS1AP) and the blood pressure (BP) control by amlodipine. Four hundred individuals of Pashtun ethnicity undergoing amlodipine treatment for hypertension were included in the present study and divided into the controlled (BP less than 140/90 mmHg) and uncontrolled (BP greater than 140/90 mmHg) hypertension groups. Blood samples (3 mL) were collected from each participant, and DNA was extracted using the Kit method. Ten SNPs in amlodipine pharmacogenes were selected and genotyped using real-time PCR with the TaqMan system. Logistic regression model was used to determine the association between SNPs and the amlodipine BP response. Notable association were observed between SNP rs2239050/CACNA1C and amlodipine blood pressure response, with GG genotype carriers demonstrating a better response (P=0.004) than individuals carrying CC or CG genotypes. SNP rs312481/CACNA1D also exhibited a positive pharmacogenetic association, Individuals with the GG genotype showing a considerable reduction in BP (P=0.021) compared to participants with AA or GA genotypes. In case of SNP rs429/ACE individuals carrying TA genotype were less likely to achieve BP control (P=0.002) than AA genotype carriers. Our finding suggests that the SNPs rs2239050/CACNA1C, rs312481/CACNA1D and rs429/ACE influence amlodipine blood pressure response in patients with hypertension. It is recommended that prior knowledge of amlodipine associated pharmacogenetic variants is important that could improve its treatment outcomes in hypertensive patients.