Rights of Non-Muslim Minorities in a Muslim Country in the Light of Qur’an and Sunnah

The Issue of the rights of non-Muslim minorities in Muslim countries has been one of the most burning issues in this era. It has been highlighted by both Muslim and non-Muslim writers that they are mistreated in Muslim countries. This paper discusses the rights of non-Muslims in a Muslim country in the light of Quran, Sunnah and Islamic history. These rights are the protection of rights and freedom of belief, right to protection of property, honour, assurance of disability, poverty and old age, right of freedom in religion, language and culture, work and profession in government services, equal rights in the society and justice. It will be shown that in Muslim countries, all non-Muslim minorities have their equal rights and same citizen status. This paper ends by providing some suggestions in solving contemporary non-Muslim problems in Muslim countries.

Economy-Wide Impact of Pakistans Trade Policy Reforms: A Global Cge Approach

As regional integration across the globe has proliferated, therefore, the developing countries have made it a leading policy objective to move in parallel and find access to the global market through the instrument of trade liberalization. This strategy has led to the establishment of various bilateral and regional free trade zones across the world. Pakistan is also a member of various bilateral and regional trade organizations. However, Pakistan’s achievements are negligible. To enhance its trade performance, Pakistan is anxious of negotiating additional free trade agreements (FTAs) with the trade partner economies. In addition, the recently proliferated large regional agreements in the Asia-Pacific and Europe such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have outsiders to these agreements. They are anxious about the implications of these agreements for their own economies and trading relations. Presently, Pakistan is neither the member of TPP nor RCEP; however, desirous to join the two partnerships. In the above-mentioned background, this study aims to undertake an assessment of Pakistan’s position in the free trade agreements. The study also aims to examine the implications of TPP and RCEP for Pakistan and to identify alternative strategies for Pakistan to follow in case the consequences of the said agreements on its economy are negative. This research examines different possible scenarios (simulations) by using the global CGE model framework (MyGTAP). The first one tests the implications of trade liberalization in the context of Pakistan’s existing bilateral FTAs with its trading partners-China, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. The second scenario tests the implications of Pakistan’s potential FTAs with Turkey, Thailand and Korea on its economy. In addition to the primary focus on Pakistan’s FTAs, further simulations are carried out to project the implications of RCEP for the economy of Pakistan. The first one tests the implications of trade liberalization for the existing members of RCEP. The second scenario investigates the impact of Pakistan’s proposed membership of RCEP on the economy of Pakistan. Next is the focus on TPP. The first scenario projects the implications for Pakistan with usual implementation of TPP regulations. The second one investigates the implications of Pakistan’s proposed joining the TPP. The third scenario tries to see the implications of the proposed US’ rejoining of the TPP. Likewise, additional projections are obtained to see the impacts of the European Generalized System of Preferences arrangements such as GSP+ and ‘Everything But Arms’ (EBA) status on the economy of Pakistan.The results of simulations intimate that the overall impact of RCEP and TPP on the economy of Pakistan (as outsider) is negative. However, in case Pakistan succeeds to join the said trade agreements, there will be an overall gain for Pakistan. The impact on the other RCEP and TPP member economies’ GDP and trade is positive with a slightly larger increase in real GDP and trade when Pakistan is included in RCEP and TPP. It is also found that there are overall positive gains for Pakistan from the existing FTAs with China and Malaysia. As such, Pakistan should acquire additional market access from the partners. The results also indicate an overall beneficiary position of Pakistan in the FTA with Thailand. The impact on the GDP and trade volume of the partners is also positive indicating that the agreement leads to win-win position. It is found that the impact of European GSP+ and EBA status on the economy of Pakistan is positive and considerable if Pakistan overcomes the domestic productive limitations.