The first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

The first Constituent Assembly was an indirectly elected house whose Muslim members
were elected by the Muslim members of the regions included in Pakistan. Non-Muslim
members were elected by the non-Muslim members of the same provincial assemblies.
The Muslim League with 59 members was the largest parliamentary party comprising
predominantly Muslim members, followed by the Congress Party, whose majority
consisted of non-Muslims. East Bengal had 44 members, followed by 22 members from
Punjab, five from Sindh, three from the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), and one
each from Balochistan, Bahawapur, Khairpur and the Tribal Areas.

The Assembly was charged with two responsibilities: to frame a constitution for Pakistan,
and to act as the Federal Legislature. The assembly, sadly, could not complete the
primary task of framing a constitution by the time it was dissolved more than seven years
later on Oct 24, 1954, by Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad in rage after Prime
Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra tried to clip some of his wide-ranging powers through the
legislature.

The First Constituent Assembly of Pakistan came into existence under the Indian
Independence Act 1947, at the time of independence. Its roots went back to 1946 when
elections for the constituent assembly of United India were held to decide the destiny of
the All India Muslim League. The first meeting of the constituent assembly of united
India was held on 19th December 1946, but Muslim League boycotted it since they
demanded a separate constituent assembly for Pakistan. With the acceptance of the
3rd June plan, a separate constituent assembly was formulated for Pakistan.

The inaugural session of the first constituent assembly of Pakistan was held in Karachi in
August 1947. Mr. J.N. Mandal was elected as temporary chairman of the Constituent
Assembly of Pakistan. Subsequently, Jinnah was elected as the president of the
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, on 11th August 1947 and Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan as
its Deputy President. The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan functioned from 1947 to
1954 and involved two major parties—the Muslim League representing all Muslims
except for a few and The Congress Party representing the twelve million Hindus in
Pakistan.

There were 69 members in the constituent assembly; this number was increased to 79
later to give representation to princely states and refugees. The mode of elections was
based on separate electorates. There was a clear majority of Muslim League in the
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, with 60 members out of the total 79. The second
major party was Pakistan National Congress with 11 members; and the third party was
the Azad Group with 3 members, a number which later decreased to 1. The Constituent
Assembly of Pakistan was not able to work properly because its seats remained empty
and some members migrated to India. Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
were simultaneously allowed to take seats of Provincial assembly or they can be Chief
Ministers or members of Central or Provincial Cabinet.

Under the Indian Independence Act Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was given two
tasks – to prepare a Constitution and to act as the federal legislature. The functions of the
central legislature under the Government of India Act 1935 were granted to the
Constituent Assembly. As a constitution-making body, it was completely independent.
The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan could amend the independence act by a simple
majority and pass laws; moreover, no law could be made without its approval. Every bill
that was passed needed to be signed by the President of the Constituent Assembly of
Pakistan.

Though there was no opposition in the Constituent Assembly there were groups that were
critical of the League. On the left was Iftikharuddin a former congressman and a
communist.

Several committees

The first constituent assembly set up several committees to carry out its tasks. Most
important of these was the Basic Principles Committee; it was assigned the task to report
per the Objectives Resolution on the main principles by which the constitution of
Pakistan was to be framed. Basic Principles Committee set up three sub-committees and a
special committee named Talimaat-i-Islamia which consisted of scholars to advise on the
religious matters arising out of Objectives Resolution. Basic Principles Committee
submitted its interim report in September 1950 and the final report in December 1952.

Another important committee of the Constituent Assembly was on the ‘Fundamental

Rights of the Citizens of Pakistan’ and on ‘Matters Relating to Minorities’. It divided
itself into two sections, one dealing with fundamental rights and the other with matters
relating to minorities. The interim report of this committee was adopted by Constituent
Assembly in 1950 and the final report in 1954.

Other committees of the constituent assembly were the State Negotiating Committee,
which dealt with the question of representation of princely states, and the Tribal Areas
Negotiating Committee, dealing with matters related to tribal areas.

The progress of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan can be summed up as

follows:

 12 March 1949 – Objectives Resolution passed by the Constituent Assembly on

aims and objectives of the future constitution. This report was well received by the
citizens of Pakistan.
  7 September 1950 – the interim report of the Basic Principles Committee was
presented to the constituent assembly. This step however marked the beginning of
the decline in the popularity of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. This report
was criticized mainly by East Pakistan.
 6 October 1950 – interim report of the Committee on Fundamental Rights of the
Citizens of Pakistan matters relating to Minorities was adopted by Constituent
Assembly of Pakistan. This report got a comparatively better response.
 22 December 1952 – the final report of the Basic Principles Committee was
presented. This report was also criticized, because of opposition in Punjab.
 7 October 1953 – Constitutional impasse was over and formation of the federal
legislature was resolved by the ‘Muhammad Ali Formula’. This report was widely
welcomed and helped the Constituent Assembly regain popularity.
 21 September 1954 – the Basic Principles Committees’ revised Report was
approved by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

The final sketch of the constitution was prepared and the Constituent Assembly was near
to the completion of its purpose. But at this point, the Constituent Assembly was
suspended by Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad, on 24th October 1954. He stated
that the Constituent Assembly had lost the confidence of the people; this ruined the
efforts of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan which had been working towards
formulating a viable constitution for seven years.

The Objectives 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 the Hindu-dominated majority. The Resolution
was moved by Liaquat Ali Khan, the then Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan, and approved on March 12, 1949.
The Constituent Assembly (1947-54)
First, we will take up the first aspect that is the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. We are
briefly talking about the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan because it was this first
constituent Assembly of Pakistan that passed the OR of March 1949. The first
Constituent Assembly came into existence under Indian Independence Act 1947at the
time of independence; however its roots can be traced back to the 1946 when the
elections for the constituent assembly for United India were held in July 1946 to decide
the destiny of the All India Muslim League (AIML)’s claim that it is the only
representative party of the Indian Muslims that desire separate homeland, Pakistan. The
Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on 9th, December 1946. The ML did not
participate in the elections because it demanded separate Constituent Assembly for
Pakistan.
When Indian Independence Act came in July, 1947 in the light of the June 3rd Plan, the
First Constituent Assembly came into existence; it comprised the members of the old
Constituent Assembly from the Districts that became part of Pakistan. Originally there
were 69 members but later on 10 more members were gradually inducted in order to
provide representation to the princely states that had exceeded to Pakistan and also to
people who had migrated to Pakistan from India. So its strength went up to 79 but
actually it was less than that because some members’ dies and some members left for
India so its actual strength went down slightly from 79. In this Constituent Assembly
there were two major political parties, The ML which had led the movement for the
establishment for Pakistan. The other major party although much smaller than the ML
was the Congress party and its members were from East Pakistan at that time. There were
also couple of other members who were not part of ML, however these two political
parties were significant especially the ML.
Functions of the Assembly:
This constituent assembly performed two functions, the first function was constitution
making, so it would at that time act as the constituent assembly,
And the 2nd function which it performed was Law Making which means that it would also
make ordinary laws for the state of Pakistan,
So in other words it was performing 2 functions constitution making when it was called
as constituent assembly and when it is performing the function of law making then it was
called as the legislative assembly but the title was the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
It is this Constituent Assembly that passed the OR that we are going to discuss very soon.
The first constituent assembly of Pakistan that came into existence at the time
of Independence in August 1947 lasted until October 1954. In October 1954 the first
constituent assembly was dissolved. So the first constituent assembly
of Pakistan remained in office for little over seven years. This was the first constitutional
document which served as the foundation of the constitution sets out the parameters and
identified the goals and the objectives which the framers of the constitution wanted to
achieve.
The OR was moved by Liaquat Al Khan who was the PM of Pakistan at that time and the
constituent assembly debated this resolution in at least five sessions. They deliberated
this in great details on all clauses and provisions and on March 12, 1949 this OR was
adopted by the constituent assembly of Pakistan.
The objective resolution:
Features:
Sovereignty:
1. Sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone.
A sacred trust:
2. The 2nd principle is an extension of the first which says that the authority which He has
delegated to the state of Pakistan through its people for being exercised within the limits
prescribed by Him is a sacred trust.
The constitution:
3. The Constitution will be framed for sovereign, independent state of Pakistan.
The representatives of the people:
4. The state shall exercise its power through the representatives of the people.
5. Principles of Democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice as enunciated
by Islam will be fully observed.
Islamic principles:
6. Muslims shall be enabled to organize their lives in accordance with the teachings and
requirements of Islam as set out in the Quran and the Sunnah.
Minorities:
7. The 7th principle outlined in the OR of March 1949 is that the minorities will have
freedom to freely profess and practice their religions and develop their cultures.
Human rights:
8. The 8th principle is very similar to the 7th that says Provisions for safeguarding the
legitimate interests of minorities, backward and depressed classes. So in addition to the
minorities the OR was also talking about the backward and the depressed classes.
Federation:
9. Pakistan shall be a Federation with autonomous units.
State’s sovereignty:
10. State’s sovereignty and territorial integrity will be protected.
International norms:
11. People of Pakistan should have an opportunity to prosper and to attain their rightful
place in the comity of nations and make contribution towards international peace progress
and happiness of humanity.
Comments
These 11 principles are in brief principles of the OR and these serve as guidelines for
constitution making in Pakistan. The principles enunciated in the OR are also in a way
aspiration the desires, goals and the objectives for which the constituent assembly was to
frame a constitution that is to say that the Pakistani polity or the Pakistan political system
was to move in the direction of achieving those goals outlined in the Objective
Resolution. You can say the same thing in other words that the constitution that was to be
framed by the constituent assembly was to reflect the principles outlined in the Objective
Resolution.
Explanation and Importance
The first principle which comes after the opening Bismillah is the Resolution declared the
sovereignty of God as the distinctive political philosophy and the primary feature of the
Islamic political system that the God Almighty is the source of authority and power for
the whole Universe. This notion that the authority or the sovereignty belongs to Allah is
different from the notion that is practiced in the Western Democracy. The Western
democracy gives the notion that sovereignty lies in the people but this Resolution is
important having the concept of the sovereignty of God. It clarified that people would
utilize powers gifted by God so they would have to work within the limits prescribed by
Him which is the source of ultimate power and authority in this World. The Objective
Resolution and later on the all the constitutions of Pakistan recognized this principle. In
fact, this sentence that the sovereignty belongs to Almighty Allah is incorporated in all
the constitutions of Pakistan. The exercise of the powers is a sacred trust.
The next line which we have outlined while discussing the principles is an extension of
this principle, when you say sovereignty belongs to Almighty Allah, a logical follow up
is that the power and the authority that is to be exercised by the state of Pakistan or those
who will be exercising power in the name of the state of Pakistan will have to function
within the limits prescribed by Allah. They can’t violate His command and principles
which have to be followed at all times and this job of exercising authority or power is a
sacred trust. Nobody, any leader or institution can claim that his power or authority
belongs to him or her. It is a responsibility and an obligation and as an obligation it is a
sacred trust because ultimate power belongs to Allah and if you are exercising it then it
would be a trust on you, it is your duty not your personal power.
Another important principle that comes out of the OR is the institution of representation.
In the principles which I have outlined it is very clearly stated that the powers would be
exercised through the representatives. It is not that some body can grap power and claim
that the power to his or her. The system of representation is provided for in the OR.
Those people who will exercise the power as a sacred trust will be representatives of the
people. In other words he OR provides for a democratic and a representative system. It
provides excess of power to the people through their representatives therefore the
principle of representation is of vital importance and significance. It is understandable
that this principle was incorporated in the Objectives Resolution. If we go back to the
Independence period we will find that the ML while striving for the establishment of
Pakistan was claiming to be the representative of the Muslims and through 1946 elections
it established its credentials as the sole representative body of the Muslims and that
principle is reflected here.
There is another principle that we have discussed which stresses on the modern notions of
democracy, freedom, equality and social justice. The representatives of the people
of Pakistan will manage the affairs under the universal ideology of democracy, freedom,
equality, tolerance, and social justice with the spirit of an Islamic framework. These
principles are the foundation and bases of any civilized political system. Islam also
provides for these kinds of principles. In fact, equality, tolerance and social justice have
been the characteristic features of Islam. Therefore here the OR was combining the two
and that’s why it says that these principles will be implemented as enunciated in Islam. In
other words this principle describe the modern notion of state governance like
representation and then the principles of democracy and equality which are find in both
and the OR has emphasize Islam because in the period of pre-independence Muslims of
this Sub-Continent were defining their national identity with reference to Islam, Islamic
culture, heritage and civilization and you can see the reflection of both in the Objectives
Resolution.
There is an other principle which is emphasized in the Objectives Resolution that is the
enabling class; the OR says that the state would create conditions to enable the Muslims
to organize their lives with the principles and teachings of Islam as set out in the Quran
and the Sunnah which are the main sources of guidance and inspiration for the Muslims
all over the World.
Now here the OR is talking about the enabling role of the state that the state would
facilitate and help and would create such conditions where Muslims will be in a position
to lead their lives in accordance to the principles and teachings of Islam. Here the element
of question has been excluded, state is not forcing the people but enabling them, this
enabling principle whereby you facilitate is in line with the principles of Islam which
does not believe in use of coercion and force in the religious domain. Therefore, it
becomes the obligation of the state to create positive and helpful conditions and
environment.
In addition to this the OR also talks about the minorities, the framers of the resolution
were fully conscious that Non-Muslims are also citizens of Pakistan. The Resolution
pledged to give the due respect and rights to the minorities, backward and depressed
classes in the benign society of Pakistan. Their rights, interests, religion and culture were
not confuted. We have seen in the principles that the resolution also talks about the
religious minorities. Those sections which for some reason cannot move along with the
other sections of the society and for religious minorities it provides them full freedom to
profess and practice their religions. They are free to go to their religious places and to
follow their religious practices and in addition to this they were also assured facility to
promote their cultures and similarly, the OR shows much concerns about the need to help
the backward classes and also depressed classes and what should be their rights and how
their rights, interests and religions could be protected. This also reflects one of the
primary teachings of Islam, the teachings which emphasize tolerance and which give
freedom to Non-Muslims to follow their own religious practices and cultural norms and
this principle is clearly reflected in the OR and also in the subsequent constitutions that
were made in Pakistan.
Another important principle is related to the federal structure of the govt
that Pakistan will be a federal state and where its units and in case of Pakistan its units are
called provinces. The constituent units of Pakistani federation will enjoy autonomy and
within the defined field the provincial govts or administration of the units of the
federation will have power to do and handle their own affairs. The introduction of system
of federation was understandable, in a diversified system is more workable and again if
we look at the political legacy of Pakistan, if we go back to the period of freedom
movement, we will find that during that time the ML was demanding a federal system
with autonomy to the provinces. The idea was that if there is a federal system and
autonomous provinces then in the provinces where Muslims are in a majority they will be
free to handle their own affairs, therefore ML was demanding a federal model with
autonomy to the provinces until 1940. It was in 1940 that the ML demanded partition
of India and establishment of a separate state.
So, after the attainment of independence it was natural, it was understandable that the Ml
and the members of the constituent assembly will go for a federal model with autonomy
to the provinces. All the constitutions of Pakistan incorporated this principle, principle of
federalism and autonomy for the provinces.
Another important principle of significance and relevance is the emphasis on the
protection of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and this is one of the primary
functions a govt have to perform because if you can’t protect state sovereignty and if you
can’t defend the territory of the state that state disappears. In fact, the security and the
protection of its territory is the primary function of any state or any govt of a state,
therefore this principle has been incorporated in the Objectives Resolution.
You have seen in this discussion that the OR was carefully prepared and it incorporated
certain principles which were to serve as the foundation of the constitutional and the legal
and the political structure that was to be created in Pakistan. When the OR was moved in
the constituent assembly of Pakistan in March 1949 a no. of non Muslim members who
were members of the Congress raised couple of objections.
Objections by Non-Muslims
In fact, these were the fears that they had in their minds and they raised those issues in
the constituent assembly which were thoroughly debated by Muslim members as well as
by the non Muslim members. The major objection by the Non-Muslims was that this OR
was trying to mix the religion and politics that was against the spirit of democracy and
from their perspective that needed to be separated. Actually, this is what happened in
the Europe but that does not mean that it should happen everywhere. In case of Islam you
cannot really draw clear lines between the two domains as describe by the European
political thinkers that the state and the religion and here in this case Pakistan and the
Islam. This objection was ruled out because the Muslims of this Sub Continent had
defined their identity with reference to Islam and there was a general census that the state
of Pakistan will have relationship with the parameters and principles which they have
used to defined their identity and then demand a separate state.
The other point raised by the non-Muslims was that they objected on the ‘Sovereignty of
Allah’ and minorities’ rights, they were saying that the sovereignty will have been with
the people with God it may be too extract; also saying it would promote inequality in the
society. Again it was explained in and outside the constituent assembly that this is the
cardinal principle of Islam and this does not mean that some individuals or some group
would claim to exercise that authority in the name of God. The framers of this resolution
were not talking about theocratic or religious state. The authority was to be exercised
through the representatives not through a particular class and the only limit was that those
representatives had to exercise that authority within the limits prescribed by Allah in the
Quran and the Sunnah and this job of exercising power was a sacred responsibility and it
was a trust. Otherwise people could elect anybody and they could exercise that authority
within certain parameters. They were also of view that Shariah was not adequate for the
modern time. They feared that it would encourage the religious extremists to work for the
establishment of a ‘theocratic state. ’Theocratic is basically mean where a particular class
of people can rule the state in the name of religion or the priesthood or the religious
scholars would rule and that kind of notion does not exist in Islam. Therefore, when
Liaquat Ali Khan and other people were talking about the Islamic state or a state based on
the Islamic principles, they were not talking about a theocratic state. In fact, Liaquat Ali
Khan and others who were in the constituent assembly repeatedly said that Pakistan is not
going to be a theocratic state but it is going to be a modern democratic state which work
within the limits prescribed by God Almighty who is the ultimate source of authority and
ultimate source of power, power ultimately belongs to Allah not to a particular class,
section or group of people, who so ever exercises power is exercising as a responsibility.