The Basic Principles Committee (BPC) was a specialized committee set up in March 1949 by

Khawaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin ( bn, খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন; ur, ; 19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani politician and one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan. He is noted as being the first Bengali to hav ...

on the advice of

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

. The committee's sole purpose was to determine the basic underlying principles that would determine future constitutions and legislature in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Initial recommendations and proposals suggested by the BPC were strongly criticized in the local media and the public. Much of the criticism came from

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

where the committee proposals were said to be subversive of the ideology of Pakistan, under-representing the majority province and neglecting the

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...

thoroughly in the constitutional and legislative process. The suggestion of the formation of a religious oversight board was also seen as "''undemocratic ndan insult to Islam''".

Formation

Before the first

constituent assembly of Pakistan The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan ( bn, পাকিস্তান গণপরিষদ, Pākistān Goṇoporishod; ur, , Aāin Sāz Asimblī) was established in August 1947 to frame Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, a constitution for Paki ...

could formulate any constitution or legislature, it was necessary to put in order the basic principles that would determine how the constitution should be framed. On 7 March 1949, the

Objectives Resolution The Objectives Resolution ( ur, ) was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on March 12, 1949. Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, had presented it in the assembly on March 7, 1949. Out of 75 members of ...

was presented, which serves to this day as the ground norm for constitutional process in Pakistan. The resolution was adopted by the constituent assembly on 12 March 1949, when 21 members voted for it. The Basic Principles Committee (BPC) was formed on the same day by the constituent assembly. The committee was set up by

governor-general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

upon advice from

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. It was presided over by

Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan (M. T. Khan; March 1889 – 19 August 1963) was the Speaker of Pakistan's Constituent Assembly from 1948 to 1954 and National Assembly of Pakistan between 1962 and 1963. Early life Khan was born to a farmer with only thre ...

with Liaquat Ali Khan serving also as its vice-president. The committee had 24 other members, though not all were members of the constituent assembly as well. The purpose of the BPC was to formulate the basic principles based on the Objectives Resolution using which the future constitutions of Pakistan would be framed. The committee was asked to propose basic principles and concerned recommendations that would help the constituent assembly with their constitutional and legislative tasks. In order to do so, the committee had its initial two meetings in April 1949 where three distinct sub-committees were formed to deal with specialized tasks: * A subcommittee to deal with matters of federal and provincial constitution and distribution of powers; * A subcommittee to deal with matters of adult franchise; and, * A subcommittee to deal with matters of the judiciary.

First proposal

The BPC presented its initial report to the constituent assembly on 28 September 1950. The main features presented in the report were also simultaneously published in an article in the

Dawn newspaper ''Dawn'' is a Pakistani English-language newspaper that was launched in British India in 1941. It is the largest English newspaper in Pakistan, and also serves as the country's newspaper of record. ''Dawn'' is the flagship publication of the Da ...

a day later, ushering strong criticism from the public, particularly from critics in

Salient features

The report called for the state of Pakistan to be a federation where

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's Pakistani political parties, opposition ...

and the legislative process, suggesting that the resolution should be incorporated into the constitution as "a directive principle of

tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

policy"''. The report also presented a suggestion for the central legislature was to be a

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...

with an

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

consisting of 100 members, and a

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

consisting of 400 members. The upper house was to be elected by the provincial legislature serving as the representative institution of the provinces, while the lower house was to be elected by the people on the basis of adult franchise. The tenure of both houses was to be five years with both enjoying equal power. The decisions regarding budget or monetary bills were to be decided in joint sessions of the two houses. The head of state was to be elected by a joint session of the two houses for a term of five years working on the advice of the prime minister. The federal legislature would have the authority to remove the head of state. The head of state was given added powers like the authority to abrogate the constitution and issue ordinances. Each province would have its own legislature elected on the basis of adult franchise for a term of five years. The head of the provincial legislature was to be elected by the head of state for a term of five years working on the advice of the chief minister. The

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

was to be the head of judiciary consisting of a chief justice and 2 to 6 judges. It was suggested to establish High Courts for each province. It was also the first time that the establishment of a religious oversight board was suggested. A board of ''ulema'' (religious scholars) was suggested to be appointed by the head of state and provincial governors to examine the processes of law-making ensuring those laws to be in accordance with the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

and the

Sunnah In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...

. Legislative power was to be divided into three lists: * Federal list, comprising 67 subjects on which the central legislature would legislate; * Provincial list, comprising 35 items on which the provincial legislature would legislate; and, * Concurrent list, comprising 37 items on which both the central and provincial legislatures had the authority to legislate. The residuary powers were vested in the centre. The procedure to amend the constitution was made very rigid. It required majority approval from the central and provincial legislatures. In case of any dispute, the Supreme Court would have the authority to interpret the constitution.

Reaction and criticism

These initial recommendations raised a firestorm of protest. It was called reactionary, undemocratic, an insult to Islam, smacking of fascist approach, subversive of the ideology of Pakistan and a gross betrayal of the solemn pledges made to the people. In particular, the report was highly criticized by Sris Chandra Chattopadhyay who observed that East Pakistan, being more populous than

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was d ...

, would be under-represented if both were given an equal number of seats in the upper house. This would have effectively rendered the eastern province a minority. Bengali critics also voiced concern over making Urdu the national language while thoroughly neglecting the

from the constitutional arena. There was also criticism of the proposals for a strong centre with vast powers on financial matters. On 4 October 1950, in an editorial published in the Nawa-i-Waqt, the report was called a ''"charter of people's slavery"''. Amidst furious criticisms, Liaquat Ali Khan refrained from considering the report and invited the committee to present revised proposals and suggestions. He also called for general suggestions and comments from the public in order to incorporate public opinion. Another special sub-committee was formed therein to facilitate such measures. This sub-committee was headed by

Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar (13 June 1899 – 14 February 1958) was a Pakistani Muslim League politician from North-West Frontier Province.Mumtaz Daultana,

Nurul Amin Nurul Amin ( bn, নুরুল আমিন; ur, ; 15 July 1893 – 2 October 1974) was a prominent Pakistani leader, and a jurist who served as the eighth prime minister of Pakistan and as the first and only vice president of Pakistan. He ...

Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz (7 April 1896 – 27 November 1979) was a politician and Muslim League activist. She was the daughter of Sir Muhammad Shafi. Her husband was Mian Shah Nawaz. She studied at Queen Mary College, Lahore, British Indi ...

, A.H. Gardezi, Justice Abdul Rashid and Maulana Mohammad Akram Khan, the report was signed by Malik Shaukat Ali signed it conditionally. The report was presented to the assembly on 22 December 1952.

Salient features

The main features of the committee's second report focused prominently on the place of Islam in the future constitution of Pakistan. The Objective Resolution was adopted as a preamble to the proposed constitution and the principles defined therein were to guide the state. With Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar at the helm of the committee, the second proposal adopted a more Islamic stance. Some suggest it merely contained ''"religious rhetoric"''. A specific clause was added to the proposal which laid down procedures to prevent any legislation that is made outside the limits prescribed in the Quran and the Sunnah. It was suggested that existing laws be also brought in conformity with the Islamic principles. The report emphasized the importance of a board of ''ulema'' that would vet legislation to make sure that it was in keeping with the teachings of Islam. The committee also recommended that the head of state be a Muslim and that separate electorates be maintained for Muslims and non-Muslims. During the debate concerning the proposition of the head of state being a Muslim, Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan observed that the provision was undeniably against fundamental rights. He said, "I presume the country’s population to be 85 percent Muslim and if a Muslim cannot be returned as a Head of State with an 85% Muslim population where a Hindu is returned with a minority of only 15%, then that Hindu must be a saint."

Reaction and criticism

The modernists denounced the suggestion to create boards of ulemas as a ''"surrender to mullahism"'' and a ''"statutory recognition of priesthood esigned to create amedieval theocracy in the twentieth century."'' In a series of letters appearing in The Pakistan Times, critics condemned such proposals stating the boards would become ''"super legislatures"'' where ''"regular priestly class

ould be Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...

eager to take part in politics by virtue of their being members of that class

lone Lone may refer to: People *Lone (given name), a given name (including a list of people with this name) * Lone (musician), Matt Cutler, an electronic musician from Nottingham, United Kingdom *Lone (surname), a surname (including a list of people w ...

''. There was even more criticism surrounding the inclusion of religious rhetoric in the committee's proposals especially in the formation of the board of ''ulema''; critics called such initiatives ''"undemocratic ndan insult to Islam"''. Nawa-i-Waqt defended the suggestion of creating the board as being ''"utterly democratic"''. On 31 December 1952, Dawn newspaper expressed concern that the committee may have exceeded the limits prescribed in the Objectives Resolution.An article in

Dawn Newspaper ''Dawn'' is a Pakistani English-language newspaper that was launched in British India in 1941. It is the largest English newspaper in Pakistan, and also serves as the country's newspaper of record. ''Dawn'' is the flagship publication of the Da ...

. 31 December 1952.

Citations

References

* * * {{cite book , first=Lawrence , last=Ziring , year=2003 , title=Pakistan: At the Crosscurrent of History , location=Oxford , publisher=Oneworld Publications , isbn=1851683275 , url-access=registration , url=https://archive.org/details/pakistanatcrossc0000ziri Post-independence history of Pakistan Politics of Pakistan Constitution of Pakistan