CSS Forums - Strategy for Preparing Pakistan Affairs

[QUOTE=ahmad9;1080175]I am appearing in CE-2019, while preparing Pakistan Affairs, I saw there 25 topics, most of them are irrelevant in my point of view. Please tell me how to prepare for this paper. In IR there are sections like History, Theories and Concepts, Current Issues etc.. so there must be similar strategy to overcome lengthy list of 25 topics in Pak Affairs Syllabus.

Need recommendations form seniors.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]
this looks old, but I will add this for anyone interested

This subject is quite challenging and the syllabus is confusing. Have a look at the first point:
[B] Ideology of Pakistan ----- definition and elucidation, historical aspects: Muslim rule in the Sub-continent, its downfall and efforts for Renaissance. Movements for reforms -- Shaikh Ahmad Sarhindi, Shah Waliullah, Sayyid Ahmad Shaheed, Aligarh, Deoband, Nadwah, and other educational institutions ------- Sindh Madrassah and Islamia College Peshawae. Ideology of Pakistan in the light of Speeches and statements of Allama Iqbal and Quaid i Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.[/B]

To be honest, this is very controversial as well, and a lot of historians like Ayesha Jalal have refuted the state narrative on these topics. Other than that, this might look like it has few selected topics from the reformers till independence, but if you look at the 2016 paper:
[IMG]https://pastpapers.ilmkidunya.com/past_papers/Images/2016/6/Large/CSS-Past-Papers-2016-Pakistan-Affairs.jpg[/IMG]
They asked about the the congress election. Therefore, everyone suggests that one must do the history portion. Let me add that after 2017 there has been only 1 history question in the exam, so a lot people say that you can risk ignoring the history portion. But remember that MCQs are from the history portion, so it is a risk to ignore it.

Some candidates like the 2018 topper didn't even prepare for PA, and decide to use her CA (current affairs) knowledge to do this paper. She got 26, but the overall got her through. Remember that you need 120 to pass all three GK papers, so you can fail one and compensate the others. A lot of smart candidates do that.

Now coming to the books, Akram Rabbani's book is the widely recommended book for this paper, and I can understand the appeal, it is fairly well written and covers the whole syllabus. However, I would not suggest this book because:[LIST][*]it has a lot of biased opinions[*]it is copied from a lot of material that is freely available online[*]It is copied from O levels book[/LIST]
[B]Lets break down the syllabus[/B]

[I]Ideology of Pakistan ----- definition and elucidation, historical aspects: Muslim rule in the Sub-continent, its downfall and efforts for Renaissance. Movements for reforms -- Shaikh Ahmad Sarhindi, Shah Waliullah, Sayyid Ahmad Shaheed, Aligarh, Deoband, Nadwah, and other educational institutions ------- Sindh Madrassah and Islamia College Peshawae. Ideology of Pakistan in the light of Speeches and statements of Allama Iqbal and Quaid i Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.[/I]
for this you need to do history and it must be really quick. So the O level book by Nigel Kelly will work here. It is very brief.
[IMG]https://i1.wp.com/onbs.pk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/The-History-and-Culture-Of-Pakistan-By-Nigel-Kelly.jpg?resize=229%2C300[/IMG]
This book may have some parts missing, like certain schools and reformers, for that use internet and the part 1 of this book
[IMG]https://kitaabonline.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/pakistan.jpg[/IMG]
don't do the whole book, just parts that are relevant

[I]Land and people of Pakistan ------- Geography, Society, Natural resources, Agriculture, Industry and education with reference to characteristics, trends and problems.[/I]
For this part use the o level geography book, and the economic survey of Pakistan. Read dawn daily because it is the best source about them.
[IMG]https://oup.com.pk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/9/7/9780199063925_3.jpg[/IMG]

then there is this channel on YouTube called geography now, you can watch their Pakistan video and the neighbors of Pakistan for context as well. I am pasting the links here
Pakistan [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqP2fiqlVok&t=1019s"]1[/URL] &[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAbsXBv9zvs"] 2[/URL] the second video is only relevant for the first 4 minutes.
This channel has a lot of interesting videos that you will find relevant for current affairs.

[I] Pakistan and Changing Regional Apparatus[/I]
this is something that is repeated a lot in the syllabus. like in here [I]Regional Economic Cooperation (SAARC,ECO,SCO) and the Role of Pakistan[/I](moving to east, multilateral cooperation, india's hegemonic designs, etc) [I] Non-Traditional Security Threats in Pakistan: Role of Non-State Actors[/I] (ISIS and Al Qaeda) [I]Pakistan’s Role in the Region[/I] [I]Pakistan’s Relations with Neighbors excluding India[/I] [I]Pakistan and India Relations Since 1947[/I] [I]The war in Afghanistan since 1979 and its impact on, and challenges to Pakistan, in the Post 2014 era.[/I] [I]Proxy Wars: Role of External Elements[/I]
Recommended readings (relevant parts, you don't have to read the whole book)
[IMG]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ioXPJsEdL._SX338_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1471980355l/31626108._SY475_.jpg[/IMG]

You will have to read the whole of Maleeha Lodi and Jefferson's book because they will help in CA, essay, and IR or Political sciences
they have good chapters that can help in the following parts:
[I]Nuclear Program of Pakistan, its Safety and Security; International Concerns
Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan
Economic Challenges in Pakistan
Political Evolution Since 1971
Pakistan and US War on Terror[/I]

Post Partition Part of the syllabus: Use
[IMG]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41G12CDMRZL._AC_UL320_SR212,320_.jpg[/IMG]
[I]Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan
Economic Challenges in Pakistan
Political Evolution Since 1971
Pakistan and US War on Terror
Evolution of Democratic System in Pakistan
Ethnic Issues and National Integration
Pakistan’s National Interest
Challenges to Sovereignty[/I]

For foreign policy part
[IMG]https://oup.com.pk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/9/7/9780199407125_1.jpg[/IMG]

If you don't want to do all this reading, so here is a lazy way.
Do Akram Rabbani, Abdul Sattar, and Hard Country. That will cover the whole syllabus.