Policy Perspectives (Volume 17, No. 1)

29 Jun 2020

Policy Perspectives (Volume 17, No. 1)

IPS Press, Policy Perspectives, Policy Perspectives Issues, Publications Comments Off on Policy Perspectives (Volume 17, No. 1) 1

 

Editor-in-Chief: Khalid Rahman
Editor: Dr Atiq-uz-Zafar
Volume: 17
Number: 1
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The latest edition of peer-reviewed IPS’ flagship journal Policy Perspectives—disseminating the research carried out by IPS and its associates, and experts on diverse range of current and evolving topics—is out now!

In view of the broad and fundamental impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, an exclusive part of this issue has been dedicated to the theme, “Covid-19: Global Challenge, National Response.” Experts in different fields have contributed in this part in an attempt to suggest a better future with a positive approach.

Simultaneously, this issue also presents research papers under the three conventional themes of the Journal, namely International Relations, Pakistan Affairs and Faith & Society.

The first paper ‘Transgender Law in Pakistan: Some Key Issues’ ’ bases itself on a recently issued briefing paper by the International Commission of Jurists regarding Pakistan’s Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 and critically discusses its contention that the law meets the international law obligations of Pakistan; it suggests a thorough review of the transgender law with a changed approach.

Authors: Syed Nadeem Farhat, Muhammad Daniyal Abdullah, Dr Shafei Moiz Hali and Hamza Iftikhar

https://doi.org/10.13169/polipers.17.1.0007

The next paper 'Reintegration Prospects for the Ex-Convicts in Pakistan: A Legal Perspective' highlights the need for a policy based stance for smooth reintegration of the ex-convicts in Pakistan who have desisted from crime as the existing provisions lack a principle-based mechanism for exoneration of such offenders.

Author: Aisha Tariq

https://doi.org/10.13169/polipers.17.1.0035

The third paper on 'Coastal Communities of Balochistan vis-à-vis CPEC: Mapping Perceptions and Socioeconomic Issues' attempts to map the perceptions, expectations and apprehensions of the coastal communities of Balochistan vis-à-vis current and forthcoming changes brought about by CPEC in their region.

Authors: Naufil Shahrukh, Shahzad Hussain, Tuba Azeem and Samand Khan

https://doi.org/10.13169/polipers.17.1.0053

The paper on 'Maritime Economy and Gwadar Port: A Growth Catalyst' underscores that Gwadar port is set to become an ideal hub port in the region due to its unique strategic location to attract trade from Central Asia, Afghanistan, west China and other countries owing to its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz (SoH).

Authors: Inayat Kalim and Areeja Syed

https://doi.org/10.13169/polipers.17.1.0073

The paper 'Impasse of Kashmir and Recurring Pretexts: A Historiographical Analysis' undertakes a historiographic analysis of disputed territory of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) using some old and contemporary texts. Providing a basic understanding of Kashmir dispute’s background and the recurring pattern of its strategic political moves, this paper attempts to expose the rhetoric and discusses the revocation of Article 370 and 35A by India on August 5, 2019 in a wider perspective.

Author: Rabiya Aamir

https://doi.org/10.13169/polipers.17.1.0083

The last paper in the first part of the Journal discusses 'Emerging Politics in Iran: Rouhani’s Last Year Term and the New Conservative Parliament' . It evaluates the result of 2020 Iranian parliamentary elections held in February this year in an attempt to understand the new power dynamics in Iran.

Author: Kulsoom Belal

https://doi.org/10.13169/polipers.17.1.0105
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It is pertinent to mention here that alongside the printed copies, Policy Perspectives is also available online to the global audience through Pluto Journals on JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/journal/polipers) and on Factiva and affiliated international databases through AsiaNet-Pakistan. Moreover, it is also indexed in International Political Science Abstracts (IPSA) database through both the print edition (published by Sage) and on the EBSCO and Ovid websites.

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Transgender Law in Pakistan: Some Key Issues

Syed Nadeem Farhat,* Muhammad Daniyal Abdullah,**
Shafei Moiz Hali*** and Hamza Iftikhar****

 

Abstract

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has recently issued a Briefing Paper regarding the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2018 of Pakistan. Stating the passage of this Act a crucial progress, ICJ suggests that this enactment was made under the international law obligations of Pakistan. This paper, while not agreeing with this observation, argues that this law has been promulgated on misrepresented interpretation of the international law as presented in the ICJ Briefing Paper as well. Additionally, it undermines the rights of the indigenous gender-variant people of Pakistan as well as the legal and social framework of the country. The law is more aligned to the global movement of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) communities and contains serious definitional and conceptual flaws. This study suggests working out a scheme for mainstreaming gender-variant persons on the basis of the Constitution of Pakistan, guidelines of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the recognized principles of international law. This would require a thorough review of the current law with a changed approach and reference point.

* Senior Research Officer, Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad, Pakistan.

** Student, Department of Government & Public Policy, National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

*** PhD; Assistant Professor, Department of Government & Public Policy, National Defence University Islamabad, Pakistan.

**** M Phil Scholar, Public Policy; Research Assistant, Riphah Institute of Public Policy, Riphah International University (RIU), Islamabad, Pakistan.

Reintegration Prospects for the Ex-Convicts in Pakistan: A Legal Perspective

Aisha Tariq*

 

Abstract

The idea of smooth reintegration of ex-convicts back into the society after completion of their punishments has got statutory acknowledgement in many Western states. However, Pakistani legal regime seems divided regarding the readjustment prospects of these convicts. Each of several perplexing provisions incorporated in different statutes discusses an exclusive post-conviction circumstance by leaving the residual rehabilitation aspects untouched. Thus, these provisions lack a principle-based mechanism of exoneration of the ex-convicts. The absence of uniformity and consistency of rules not only deprives the majority of ex-offenders from the right to secure respectable reintegration into the society but the entire social order sometimes suffers due to grant of clemency to the wrong cases. The findings of this study suggest that a policy-based stance is required for the effortless readjustment of the ex-convicts in Pakistan who have desisted from crime. This policy perspective needs to be strengthened through an exclusive statute which also includes trivial details of the process to extend a principled chance of exoneration for such offenders.

* Lecturer, Department of Law, International Islamic University (IIU), Islamabad, Pakistan.

Coastal Communities of Balochistan vis-à-vis CPEC: Mapping Perceptions and Socioeconomic Issues

 Naufil Shahrukh,* Shahzad Hussain,** Tuba Azeem***
and Samand Khan****

 

 Abstract

This study explores the perceptions of the coastal communities of Balochistan vis-à-vis China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a mega-development project in Gwadar. Understanding the socioeconomic issues of the vulnerable coastal communities of the province is critical for the policymakers to ensure an inclusive approach towards development planning. The volatile political situation of this province underscores the need to proactively address the socioeconomic impact of CPEC projects on the local populace by including them in the development process instead of allowing them to be marginalized and exploited at the hands of the forces which are averse to the progress. It attempts to map the expectations and apprehensions of the subjects vis-à-vis changes brought about by CPEC in their region, especially how they perceive their habitat and livelihood being impacted—positively or negatively. Finally, the study charts out a set of recommendations based on the first-hand observations, and advocates devising an integrated strategy at all policy levels for ensuring inclusion of these coastal communities as important stakeholders not only in the mega development taking place in the form of CPEC-led development projects but also in the maritime economy and security of Pakistan.

* Associate Editor, Policy Perspectives; General Manager Operations, Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, Pakistan.

** Associate Professor, Department of Government and Public Policy, National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad, Pakistan.

*** Researcher, Maritime Desk, Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, Pakistan.

**** Young Development Fellow, Planning Commission of Pakistan.

Maritime Economy and Gwadar Port: A Growth Catalyst

Inayat Kalim* and Areeja Syed**

 

Abstract

Today maritime economy recognizes the seas and oceans as the main driving force for the sustainable economic growth across the globe. Pakistan with its unique geographic location is blessed with approximately 1050 km long coastline and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covering an area of about 240,000 sq km. In a brief history of globalization, seaborne trade and sea ports have made significant contributions towards socioeconomic development, thereby strengthening economic ties among states of various regions. Similarly, Pakistan’s Gwadar port emerges as an ideal hub port in the region due to its unique strategic placement to attract trade from Central Asia, Afghanistan, west China and other countries due to its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz (SoH), which is the main shipping route, and connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Today, Gwadar’s geostrategic positioning enables it to monitor and control the oil trade routes and Sea Lines of Communications (SLOCs) between the regions of South Asia, West Asia, Africa and Central Asia. Gwadar’s deep-sea port characteristic is one of the rare features which equips it to expand its operation to the 88 berths and capacity to anchor gigantic vessels from 100,000 DWT to 200,000 DWT. The working capacity of the Gwadar Port is equal to the Persian Gulf ports. This paper attempts to determine the potential and strength of the Gwadar Port as a growth catalyst for Pakistan as the country’s international trade is directed through the sea.

* PhD; In charge, International Relations Program, COMSATS University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

** MS Scholar, International Relations, COMSATS University, Islamabad-Pakistan.

Impasse of Kashmir and Recurring Pretexts: A Historiographical Analysis

 Rabiya Aamir*

 

Abstract

The relevance of undertaking a historiographic analysis in the context of historically disputed territory of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) cannot be denied in the wake of revocation of Article 370 and 35A by India on August 5, 2019. This arbitrary decision has opened a recurring dimension of the dispute, which needs to be addressed in a wider perspective. This paper, therefore, calls for environmental justice or eco-postcolonial ethic for IOJ&K — a perspective, which is important by virtue of its definition only. Eco-postcolonial ethic, defined as a standpoint that brings forth the need to understand the expression of resistance against the oppression of colonizing powers in this postcolonial age, can be one possible way of determining a future course of action vis-a-vis Kashmir dispute. While the context of studying Kashmir in an Indian Pakistani conflict holds its own importance, shifting some frames of reference that incorporate the eco-postcolonial ethic of Kashmir, this paper examines the dispute from the perspective of ‘deceptions’[1] or interpellations in the context of Kashmir’s history. This historiographic study of some old as well as contemporary texts, besides providing a basic understanding of Kashmir’s background and the recurring pattern of its strategic political moves, also helps us belie all the fabricated rhetoric and propaganda that has been lobbied for three quarters of a century.

* Assistant Professor, Department of English, National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad, Pakistan.

[1] Alastair Lamb, Incomplete Partition: The Genesis of the Kashmir Dispute: 1947- 1948 (Hertingfordbury: Roxford Books, 1997), 159.

Emerging Politics in Iran: Last Year of Rouhani’s Term and the New Conservative Parliament

 Kulsoom Belal*

 

Abstract

The election of Hassan Rouhani in 2013 as the President was hailed as a ‘victory of moderation’ in Iran, signaling the fact that Iran would embrace moderation after the ‘fierce rule’ of Ahmadinejad, former Iranian President. However, a chronic failure of moderates’ agenda in Iran during former’s tenure has now changed the power distribution in the country leading to conservative faction’s win in the 2020 Parliamentary elections. The paper is an attempt to evaluate the election result of 2020 and understand the new power dynamics in Iran. It reviews the performance and policies of President Rouhani as he reaches the last year of his second term and also analyzes the emerging political scenario in the country with challenges to the new Parliament. Additionally, to make a holistic analysis, the paper briefly covers the strong points of Rouhani administration and the plausible policy changes expected from the new parliament. The methodology of the paper is qualitative content analysis.

* Research Officer, Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad; Lecturer, University of Management and Technology (UMT), Sialkot, Pakistan.