OBJECTIVE RESOLUTION

1. Introduction:
The Objective resolution was the first constitutional document that
proved to be the “Foundation of the Constitutional Developments’ in
Pakistan. It provided parameters and sublime principles to the
legislators. It made the constitution making process easy task setting
some particular objectives before them that would be acceptable to the
people of Pakistan who had suffered a lot under Hindu-dominated
majority. The Resolution was moved by Liaqat Ali Khan, the then PM of
Islamic republic of Pakistan, and approved on March 12, 1949.
2. Background:-
The history of formulation of the constitution of Pakistan begins with
the Lahore Resolution in 1940. It was here that the idea of Pakistan, a
separate homeland for the Muslims of India, was first outlined. It came
to be known as the Pakistan resolution. On June 3, 1947, the British
Government accepted in principle the partition of India in order to
create two independent dominions of Pakistan and India. The British
Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act on July 18, 1947.
Accordingly, the new state of Pakistan came into being on August 14,
1947. This new state was formed of East Bengal, a part of Assam, West
Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan provinces of undivided India.
Under Section 8 of the Indian Independence Act of 1947, the
Government of India Act of 1935 became, with certain adaptations, the
working constitution of Pakistan. However, the Quaid’s aim was the
establishment of a truly Islamic society. As a result, a Constituent
Assembly was set up under the Independence Act. The Constituent
Assembly had a dual purpose; to draft the constitution of Pakistan and
to act as a legislative body till the new constitution was passed and
enforced.
 3. Objective Resolution:
PM, Liaqat Ali Khan, had presented it in the assembly on March 7, 1949.
On March 12, 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted a resolution
moved by Liaqat Ali Khan, the then PM of Pakistan. The objective
resolution is considered to be the “Magna Carta” of Pakistan’s
constitutional history. All the amendments proposed by majority
members were rejected. Consequently, all ten of them voted against it.
4. Salient Features of the Objective Resolution:-
The salient features of Objectives Resolution are as follows:

1. Sovereignty of Allah:-

Sovereignty over the entire state of Pakistan belongs to Allah Almighty

alone.

2. Man would act as a vicegerent of Allah:-

The 2nd principle is an extension of the first which says that the man is
the vicegerent of Allah Almighty. Allah has delegated powers to the
state of Pakistan, and it will be exercised through its people as sacred
trust within the limits imposed by Him.

3. Islamic Democracy:-

State will exercise its power and authority through the elected
representatives of the people and Islamic democracy will be exercised
in the century.

4. Islamic Principles:-

The Islamic principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and

social justice shall fully be followed.

5. Islamic ways of living:-

The Muslims shall be enabled to live individually and collectively in
accordance with the teaching of Quran and Sunah.

6. Protection to Minorities:-

Adequate provisions shall be made for the minorities to profess,

propagate and practice their religions and develop their cultures and
traditions.

7. Federal from of Government:-

Pakistan shall be a federation, in which provinces will enjoy autonomy

within the constitutional limits.

8. Fundamental Rights:-

Fundamental rights of freedom, equality, and property, expression of

thought, belief, worship and association shall be guaranteed to all the
citizens of Pakistan.

9. Free Judiciary:-

Judiciary shall be independent and will work without any political and
economic pressure.

10. Protection of Boundaries of Pakistan

Protection of water, land and Air boundaries will be protected. It will be

the responsibility of the Government the take suitable steps for this
purpose.

11. Source of law

It was mentioned in the Objective Resolution that source of law in

Pakistan is Holy Quran and Sunnah. No Law can be formed in Pakistan
which is against Holy Quran and Sunnah.
12. Development of Backward Areas

It was mentioned in the Objective Resolution in 1949 that remote or

backward area should be developed equally to other developed areas
of the country.

13. Answerable Government

It was mentioned in the Objective Resolution in that Pakistan would be

free & independent state. Government of the Pakistan would be bound
to make the decisions according to the public opinion and answerable
to the people.

14. Democratic System of Government

In 1949, it was declared that democratic system of Government would

be established in Pakistan according to the Islamic concepts.

15. National Development

It was also declared in 1949 that the people of Pakistan would be

completely independent. Government should provide equal
opportunities to the people, for economic and social development of
the people. Government will take all possible steps in this regard.

5. Importance

The following points describe the importance of Objective Resolution:-

i) Magna Carta of Pakistan:-

The Objective Resolution has attained the status of Magna Carta in the
constitutional history of Pakistan. It paved the way for the
constitutional development of Pakistan. It was included as preamble in
all the three constitutions, and its Islamic principles were incorporated
in all the constitutions of Pakistan. A famous writer and scholar, Hamid
Yousaf, writes in his book, Pakistan a Study of Political Development
1947-97 that,

“The Resolution was the first major step towards the framing of the
constitution. It exposed the will of historically the first constituent
body of Pakistan. It was later enshrined as a preamble in the
constitution of 1956, 1962 and 1973.”

(ii) Principle of Democracy instead of Theocracy:-

The approval of Objective Resolution led the representatives of

Muslims to adopt the golden principles of democracy instead of
theocracy. They built up an Islamic state above all the geographical,
racial and national limitations.

(iii) Rejected Secularism in the country:-

Objective Resolution rejected the different concepts of secularism in

the country which were present at that time and clarified that Pakistan
will be an Islamic State.

(iv) Respect and Rights to the Minorities:-

The resolution pledged to give the due rights and respect to the
minorities, backward and depressed classes in the benign society of
Pakistan.

(v) Ensured the autonomy of the federating units:-

It is important because it promised the federating units for due powers,

autonomy and territorial integrity.

(vi) Shadow of the sovereignty of Allah Almighty:-

It clarified that people would utilize powers gifted by God so that they
would have to work within the limits prescribed by him. People will
choose their representatives who will work on behalf of them and for
the welfare of the people of Pakistan. It gave a new color to Western
concept of Democracy which says that the supreme power lies in the
people. But according to this resolution, the exercise of power is a
sacred trust. Hamid Yousaf explains that:

The Resolution laid down the concept of government as a sacred trust

to be exercised by the choosen representatives of the people. It laid
down the objectives of freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice as
enunciated by Islam.”

(viii) Importance in judicial interpretation:-

In Pakistan, the Supreme Court used the Objective Resolution its

judgements for the insurance of the dependence of judiciary in some
cases like Al-Jehad v/s Federation of Pakistan.

6. CRITICISM ON OBJECTIVE RESOLUTION

People criticized this resolution on the following main grounds:-
1. Jinnah’s Speech August 11, 1947
It is also important to review the vision of the founder of Pakistan
Muhammad Ali Jinnah about the nature of state of Pakistan. After
independence, in his presidential address to the Constituent Assembly
of Pakistan, he assured the people of Pakistan that:
You are free to go to your temples; you are free to go to your mosques
or to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may
belong to any religion or caste or creed…that has nothing to do with
the business of the state...
So, the thrust of the Objectives Resolution contradicts the vision of
Jinnah as mentioned above. The vision of Jinnah about Pakistan was
very clear and straight forward in which state was not mingled with
religion.
 2. Mian Iftikharuddin’s opposition to resolution:-
Mian Muhammad Iftikharuddin was the only Muslim member in the
house who opposed the resolution. To him the resolution was vague
and many words used in it do not mean anything. He further suggested
that such a resolution should not only be the product of Muslim League
members sitting in the assembly alone. Rather it was supposed to be
the voice of seventy million people of Pakistan.
3. Opposition over the clause of sovereignty of Allah:
Bhupendra Kumar Datta, a member of PNC from East Pakistan,
proposed that the first paragraph beginning with the words “Whereas
sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to Allah Almighty alone…”
and ending with the words “limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust…”
of the Resolution must be omitted. He pointed out that ‘the relations
between a state and its citizens have been… the subjects of politics’
and ‘the relations between man and God come within the ‘sphere of
religion’. ‘Politics comes within the sphere of reason, while religion
within that of faith. If religion and politics are intermingled then there is
a risk of subjecting religion to criticism, which will rightly be presented
as sacrilegious; and it would also cripple reason and curb criticism as far
as the state policies are concerned. They also argued that there was
every possibility that the leaders would misuse their authority in the
name of God.
4. Sharia would not fulfill modern requirements:-
The opponents objected that the principle of Shariah was not adequate
for fulfilling the modern requirements. A well-known scholar and social
scientist, Muhammad Wasim, describes in his book, Politics and the
State in Pakistan,
 “The pressure from the Islamic lobby was strong enough to elicit a
response from the Constituent Assembly in the form of Objective
Resolution on 2nd March 1949.”
7. Strengths of Objective Resolution:
The strength of the objective Resolution is manifested by the following
points:-
1) Role of the Constituent Assembly in Framing of Constitution:-
In Objective Resolution, it is stated that “The Constituent
Assembly representing the people of Pakistan resolves to frame a
constitution for the sovereign independent state of Pakistan.” which
means that, the members of Constituent Assembly which are the
representatives of the people of Pakistan will have the power and are
responsible to frame a constitution by keeping the proposals of the
people and for the benefits of the people of Pakistan. The role of
Constituent Assembly was according the thinking of Quaid-e-Azam in
Objective Resolution. According his speech which he delivered on 11th
august 1947 he told that “I sincerely hope that with your support and
your co-operation, we shall make this Constituent Assembly an
example to the world. The Constituent Assembly has got two main
functions to perform. The first is the very onerous and responsible task
of framing our future constitution of Pakistan and second of functioning
as a full and complete Sovereign Body as the Federal Legislature of
Pakistan.” This shows that the Quaid-e-Azam was also in the favour of
role of Constituent Assembly in framing of constitution of Pakistan.
2) Exercise of Powers Through Chosen Representatives:-
In Objective Resolution, it is stated that “Wherein the state shall
exercise its powers and authority through the chosen representatives
of the people.” According to this principle, the people of Pakistan will
choose their representative in the government through Democratic
way, like elections. It is not that anyone can grab power and claim that
the power to his or her.
On June 14, 1948, Quaid-e-Azam said when he was addressing to the
military staff college “Never forget that you are the servants of the
state. You do not make policy. It is we, the people’s representatives,
who decide how the country is to be run. Your job is to only obey the
decisions of your civilian masters.”
3) Fundamental Rights Will Be Provided:-
According to the Objective Resolution, the fundamental right
should be guaranteed to everyone i.e. believers of every religion living
in the state of Pakistan. It means that everyone has the right to live
peacefully, have equal status, opportunities, social and political justice
and freedom to think .Everyone has also the freedom to worship and to
live their lives according to the religion and culture. As, Quaid-e-Azam
said in his speech which he delivered on 11th August 1947
“You are free, you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to
your mosques or to any other places of worship in the state of
Pakistan.”
4) Independence of Judiciary:-
It is stated in the Objective Resolution that “Wherein the independence
of judiciary shall be fully secured.” This means that the judiciary will
not be controlled by any person, political party and any other power.
The judiciary couldn’t be influenced by anyone. The judiciary has all
rights to take action against anyone who is following the law. According
to the Objective Resolution, the judiciary is independent because it is
their duty to provide cheap and quick justice to the people. In any
country, if justice is not given to their people the country will be ruined.
8. Weak points of Objective Resolution:-
Following are the weak points which are stated in objective resolution:-
  Wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality,
tolerance, and social justice enunciated by Islam shall be fully
observed;
 Wherein the Muslims shall enable to order their lives in the
individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teaching
and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and the
Sunnah;
 Wherein adequate provision shall be made to safeguard to
legitimate interests of minorities and backwards and depressed
classes;
 Wherein adequate provision shall be made for the minorities
freely to profess and practice their religion and develop their
cultures;

In all the points stated above, the only thing which is prominent is that
Muslims and people who believe in other religions are shown
completely different from each other. This is a complete contradiction
of Quaid-e-Azam vision. According to the Quaid-e-Azam vision, there
are no minorities on the basis of religion. On 11th August 1947, Quaid-e-
Azam said
“You may belong to any religion or caste or creed- that has nothing to
do with the business of state”.
He also said that
“We are starting with this Fundamental principle that we are all
citizen and equal citizens of one State”.
Due to the clear distinction between religious majorities and minorities,
the rights of non-Muslims have been sealed. Due to the principles
stated in objective resolution, the provisions relating to Muslims being
enabled to lead their life according to Islam has opposed the concept of
secular state. If we observe today’s situation, we are watching that
minorities have become depressed due this resolution. According to
this resolution, the Islamic laws are forcefully imposed on the Non-
Muslims.
9. Conclusion:-
Objective Resolution was the first step towards Islamization in Pakistan.
No doubt Objective Resolution has a great importance in the
constitutional history of Pakistan because all the questions related to
the rights of the minorities, basic rights of the people and nature of
constitution were described in it. On the other hand, Objectives
resolution was passed but was not passed by the Non-Muslim members
of assembly and that is a big question mark on Liaqat Ali Khan, his
cabinet and other Muslim members of assembly. They failed to satisfy
the objections of Non-Muslims and due to this many controversies
started.