OBJECTIVE RESOLUTION; SALIENT FEATURES AND SIGNIFICANCE

Objective Resolution was first Constitutional document for foundation of ‘Constitutional development

in Pakistan’. It paved a way for constitutional development in Pakistan . It also put a concept about
constitution before legislators. It was first represented by Liaqat Ali Khan ,then Prime Minister of
Pakistan in April 1949.

Salient Features of Objective Resolution

The salient features of the Objective Resolution are as follows:

Sovereignty Belongs to Allah

The resolution clearly laid down that sovereignty over the entire universe belongs o Almighty
Allah alone and the authorities to be exercised by the people of Pakistan as a sacred trust.

Federal System
Federal System of Government will be introduced in Pakistan.

Golden Principles of Islam

Principles of democracy, equality, freedom and social justice as laid down by Islam shall be
fully observed.

Supreme Authority of the People

The sovereignty of the state will be established through the elected representative of the
people.

Life According to the Teachings of Islam

The Muslims shall be provided with opportunity to order their lives in accordance with the
teachings and requirements of Islam.

Protection of the Rights of Minorities

The rights and interests of the minorities to freely profess and practice their religion will be
protected.

Equal Rights to Citizens

All citizens will enjoy their rights on the principle of equality.

Development of Under Developed Areas

All efforts will be made for the development and progress of the under developed areas.

Independence Judiciary
Judiciary will be independent.

Importance of the Objective Resolution

This resolution is of fundamental importance in the history of constitutions making in Pakistan

because from the first constitution of 1956 till the constitution of 1973 (present constitution)
whatever constitution was framed it was based on this objective resolution. It contains those
steps and principles which were to be taken for the fulfilment of the basic aim of the freedom
struggle that is the establishment of an Islamic society in Pakistan. Hence, it is a significant
document in the constitutional history of Pakistan.
When Liaquat Ali Khan visited America, in the course of his speech at New Orleans, he said,
'"We believe in God and his Supreme sovereignty because we believe that civic life must have
an ethical content and a higher purpose. But democracy, social justice, equality of
opportunity and equality before the law of all citizens irrespective of their race and creed are
also aspects of faith with us."'

Conclusion

All the above mentioned principles were present in the Objective Resolution that is why this
resolution is considered an important event in the constitutional history of the country. It was
accepted by all classes of people. It provided a guide line for the future constitutions of
Pakistan which were passed in 1956, 1962 and 1973. It consisted of such principles which
revealed that character of constitution shall be Islamic.

EARLY PROBLEMS OF PAKISTAN

Pakistan came into existence on 14th august 1947. Soon after its establishment Pakistan faced number of problems.
Most of the problems of Pakistan were related with Pakistan dispute with India, such as the accession of the princely
states, canal Water dispute, refugees' problems and distribution of armed and military assets. Infect most of these
problems were deliberately created by India itself so that Pakistan would not maintain its independent status and
soon merged with India. (Nehru told General Sir Frank Messervy in 1945, “his deliberate plan would be to allow
Jinnah to have his Pakistan, end gradually makes things so impossible economically a nd otherwise for Pakistan that
they have to come on their banded knees and asked to be allowed back to India

1.Choice of Capital and Establishment of Government

The first problem that Pakistan had to face was to choose a capital to form a Government and to establish a
secretariat. • Karachi was chosen as the capital of Pakistan. • Quaid-e-Azam took the office of the Governor General,
Liaquat Ali Khan was appointed as Prime Minister and a Cabinet of experienced persons was selected.

2. Unfair Boundary Distribution

A boundary commission was set up under a British Chairman, Sir Cyril Redcliff. He misused his powers and handed
over Muslims majority areas like Gurdaspur, Ferozpur and Junagadh to India hence providing them a gateway to
Kashmir. Quaid-e-Azam called “it an unjust, incomprehensible and even perverse award.”

3.Division of Military Assets

It was announced on July I, 1947 that Indian army would also be divided in ratio 65 to 35 in India's favor it was with
reference of the communal balance present in the British Indian Army. Pakistan received was nothing but scrap and
out of order machines, broken weapons, unserviceable artillery and aircraft. There were 16 ordnance factories and all
were located in India. Pakistan was given 60 million rupees towards its share in the ordnance factories. Pakistan did
not receive the due share of the military assets till now. This dishonest attitude put Pakistan into great difficulties.

4.Division of financial assets:

At the time of division there was cash balance of 4 billion rupees in the reserve Bank of India which was to be divided
between India and Pakistan in the ratio of 17 to India and 5 to Pakistan. Pakistan was to receive 750 million rupees,
which was in initially delayed by the Indian Government. After the protest of Pakistan, India agreed to pay 200
million rupees. As the war between India and Pakistan had started on the issue of Kashmir India again stopped the
rest of the amount. However, the remaining 50 million rupees are still not paid. The money was Pakistan's rightful
share. India deliberately withholds it because they hoped that Pakistan would become bankrupt.

5. Economic Problems

When Pakistan came into existence, it mostly consisted of economically backward and underdeveloped areas. The
agricultural system was obsolete and outdated which added to the economic backwardness of the areas forming
part of Pakistan. The entire capital was in the hands of the Hindus. Unfortunately, the banks and other financial
institutions were located in Indian territory .Besides these factors the technical experts and laborers, who operated
the industries, were all Hindus because the Muslims extremely lagged behind in education and financial capabilities

6.Issue of national language

After the establishment of Pakistan language controversy was started between East and West Pakistan. The
members of the Constituent Assembly belonged to East Pakistan demanded that instead of Urdu, Bengali should be
made national language of Pakistan. In March 1948 while addressing at Dhaka, Quaid-e-Azam declared, “Urdu and
Urdu alone would be the national language of Pakistan."

7.Electricity Problem

Due to transfer of Muslim majority areas to Bharat and unfair demarcation, electricity system of West Punjab was
disrupted ,because all power stations were at Mundi, a predominantly Muslim majority area, gifted to Bharat but
Quaid-e-Azam said: “If we are to exist as a nation ,we will have to face the problems with determination and force.”

8.Kashmir Dispute

Kashmir dispute is the most important and unsolved problem. Kashmir is the natural part of Pakistan because at the
time of partition 85% of the Kashmir’s total population was Muslim. The Hindu Dogra rule ,who was secretly with the
Government of India declared Kashmir as a part of India. Pakistan has continuously insisted that Kashmir must get
their right of self determination but due to non- cooperation of India, Kashmir issue still remain unsolved.

9. Canal Water Dispute

The boundary of India and Pakistan in way that it cut across the rivers and canal making India the upper beneficiary
and Pakistan the lower beneficiary. Most of the rivers flowing in Pakistan have their origin in India. In 1948, India
stopped water supply to Pakistani canals to damage the Pakistani agriculture. However on 9th September, 1960 on
agreement called Indus Basin Treaty was signed between the two countries.

10. Constitutional Problem

At the time of establishment of Pakistan the Government of India Act 1935 became the working constitution of
Pakistan with certain adoptions. The need of a constitution framed by the elected representatives of the people was
necessary for free people. So the first constituent assembly was formed and was given the task to frame the
constitution for the country. But the constituent assembly failed to frame a constitution even in eight years. Lack of a
permanent constitution created chances of corrupt interference in democratic progress of Pakistan.

QUAID’S VISION

What Jinnah envisioned for Pakistan as a state remains a distant dream. We

continue to grope in darkness for a constitutional state based on equal rights and
separation of religion from the state. But we have walked slowly and steadily in
the opposite direction.
Let us clear some of the fog about Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan first. I believe
Jinnah’s speech before the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947,
is unambiguous about what kind of ideas of state and nation-building our great
leader had in mind. In a nutshell, he wanted citizenship not religion as the
founding principle of the new state. His frequently quoted parts of the speech,
“You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with
the business of the state” is neither understood in terms of the context nor for
the selection of the expression.

Contextual interpretation is extremely important for any great speech or

analysis, undertaken by historians and later-day commentators to explain the
intent of great leaders. For the context, Pakistan was only three days away from
achieving independence. Secondly, the forum was the Constituent Assembly of
the new state, tasked with the responsibility of framing a new constitution.

Jinnah, like many other Muslim leaders of the subcontinent who strived for the
creation of a new state comprising the Muslim majority areas, was a modernist.
The three streams of philosophy that influenced movement for Pakistan,
unfortunately, got pushed back with the second generation of Pakistani leaders
— constitutional struggle for the protection of minority rights, modernism and a
territorial state. Let us spell these ideas in some detail.

The cultural roots of minority Muslim nationalism go back many centuries. Over
time, Muslims developed a deep sense of identity but within the Indian context.
As the issues of representation in the elected assemblies and state institutions
under colonial rule emerged important for all communities, the Muslim
community began to raise demands for proportionate representation. The
community thought it was their right to do so, which was, on occasion, granted
through separate electorates. As the Muslims and other parts of the Indian
nation struggled for independence, the constitutional protection of rights in the
post-colonial, unified state emerged as the defining issue for the Muslims. They
wanted it to be settled before the English left; it was the collective failure of the
British, Congress and the Muslim League that galvanised the demand for
Pakistan. What we have done with our own religious minorities after
independence is another story — truly heartbreaking.

There is a social and political category all over the world called the modernists
that we also find among the dreamers and founders of Pakistan. The modernists
don’t reject the past, or the heritage in cultural and religious spheres. They
essentially live in modern times and propose and implement solutions to the
contemporary problems of the society on rational, pragmatic and practical
grounds.

Pakistan, in my view, is a territorial state. Its acronym is drawn from the

territorial domains it contains. It also means that all citizens of all faiths, sects
and religious pursuits are equal citizens. These are the founding ideas of Pakistan,
which the successive generations of Pakistanis have lost.
The counter-narratives about the creation of Pakistan and what kind of state and
society we should have replaced our founding ideas. It was expedient for the
ruling groups to play an emotional Islamic card in politics rather than build a
modern, nation state based on equal citizenship. Doing so would have required
democracy and constitutionalism that our ruling classes have accepted only as
conveniences and not as ideology — the ideology of Jinnah.

PROCESS OF ISLAMIZATION IN PAKISTAN

INTRODUCTION:

Quaid said, “We want to have a separate homeland where Islamic laws can be enforced.
We want a separate homeland to prove that Islamic laws pronounced 1400 years ago are
still practicable.”
ISLAMIZATION:
the process of bringing someone or something under the influence of Islam or under Islamic rule.
1. Objectives resolution:
The resolution proclaimed that the future constitution of Pakistan would not be modeled entirely
on a European pattern, but on the ideology and democratic faith of Islam.

2. The Constitution of 1956:

Islamic provisions were made part of the Directive Principles of State Policy. According to these
principles the state was to endeavor: To provide facilities to the Muslims to enable them to spend
life under rules the Holy Quran and Sunnah. To secure the proper organization of Zakat and
Auqaf.

3. The Constitution of 1962:

The preamble of the Constitution of 1962 was based on the Objectives Resolution. No law shall
be enacted which is repugnant to the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Qur'an
and Sunnah and all existing laws shall be brought in conformity with the Qur'an and Sunnah.

4. The Constitution of 1973:

Pakistan shall be known as “Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.
Islam shall be the state religion of Pakistan
Sovereignty Belongs to Allah
Ahmadi’s A Non Muslim Minority

5. Islamization Under General Zia-ul-Haq:

When General Zia-ul-Haq took over as the Chief Martial Law Administrator on July 5, 1977,
Islamization was given a new boost. General Zia-ul-Haq was a practicing Muslim who
raised the slogan of Islam.
1) Hudood Ordinance: it was promulgated in 1979.
2) Qazf Ordinance:
3) Zakat & Usher Ordinance: it was promulgated on June 20, 1980.
4) Establishment of Federal Shariat Court:
5) Majlis-e-Shoora: in 1980.
6) Nazam-I-Salat:
7) Ehtram-I-Ramzan:
8) Ban on Nudity: display of nude scenes and moving films with nudity were also banned
on the television.
9) Islamic education:
10) Financial system:
11) Islamic laws for women: theory of “Chadar aur Char devari”.