The Objectives Resolution ( ur, ) was adopted by the
Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
of
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 ...
on March 12, 1949. Prime Minister,
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 ...
, had presented it in the assembly on March 7, 1949. Out of 75 members of the assembly, 21 voted for opposing it. All the amendments proposed by minority members were rejected. Consequently, all ten of them voted against it.
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
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. The resolution, in its entirety, has been made part of the
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 ...
under Article 2(A).
Objectives Resolution
The Pakistani Objectives Resolution
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
over the entire Universe belongs to
Allah
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
Almighty alone and 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.
#This Constituent Assembly representing the people of Pakistan resolves to frame a constitution for the sovereign independent state of Pakistan.
#The state shall exercise its powers and authority through the chosen representatives of the people.
#The principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed.
#The
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings and requirements of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
as set out in the Holy
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
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 ...
.
#Adequate provision shall be made for the minorities to freely progress and practice their religions and develop their cultures.
#Pakistan shall be a federation and its constituent units will be autonomous.
#Fundamental rights shall be guaranteed. They include equality of status, of opportunity and before law, social, economic and political justice, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association, subject to (the) law and public morality.
#Adequate provisions shall be made to safeguard the legitimate interests of minorities and backward and depressed classes.
#The independence of the judiciary shall be fully secured.
#The integrity of the territories of the federation, its independence and all its rights, including its sovereign rights on land, sea and air shall be safeguarded.
#The people of Pakistan may prosper and attain their rightful and honored place among the nations of the world and make their full contribution towards international peace and progress and happiness of humanity.
Purportedly combining the features of both Western and
Islamic democracy
There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors.
In 2021, a number of Muslim majority countries are Islamic and secular democra ...
, it is considered one of the most important documents in the constitutional history of Pakistan. It was strongly supported by Maulana
Shabbir Ahmad Usmani
Shabbir Ahmad Usmani (11 October 188713 December 1949) was an Islamic scholar who supported the Pakistan Movement in the 1940s. He was a religious scholar, writer, orator, politician, and expert in Tafsir and Hadith.
Born in 1887 in Bijnor, Us ...
, Dr.
Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi
Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi ( ur, ) (20 November 1903 – 22 January 1981) popularly known as I.H. Qureshi, ''SP'', ''HI'', was a Pakistani conservative nationalist historian and playwright. He was the Vice Chancellor of the University of K ...
, Dr. Omar Hayat Malik, 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.[Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah
Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah (22 July 1915 – 11 December 2000) was a Bengali Pakistani politician from Bengal, diplomat and author. She was the first Muslim woman to earn a PhD from the University of London. She was Pakistan's ambas ...]
, Muhammad Hussain and others. At the time it was passed, Liaquat Ali Khan called it "the most important occasion in the life of this country, next in importance only to the achievement of independence". However, not everyone in Pakistan had such as high praise and unbounded admiration for it.
Criticism
Non-muslims
The non-Muslim members of the constituent assembly vigorously opposed it, and all of them voted against it.
Birat Chandra Mandal
Birat Chandra Mandal was a member of the 1st National Assembly of Pakistan as a representative of East Pakistan. He had argued for the constitution of Pakistan to be secular.
Career
Mandal represented Bengal Depressed Classes Association at the ...
said that Jinnah had unequivocally said that Pakistan would be a secular state.
Sris Chandra Chattopadhyaya Siris Chandra Chattopadhyaya (18731967) was a Bengali civil servant and politician from East Bengal. He was a Member of the 1st National Assembly of Pakistan as a representative of East Pakistan. He was born in Dhaka.
Career
Chattopadhyaya was a m ...
, the Dhaka-born leader of the opposition, said in the constituent assembly on March 12, 1949:
In my conception of (the) state where people of different religions live there is no place for religion in the state. Its position must be neutral: no bias for any religion. If necessary, it should help all the religions equally. No question of concession or tolerance to any religion. It smacks of inferiority complex. The state must respect all religions: no smiling face for one and askance look to the other. The state religion is a dangerous principle. Previous instances are sufficient to warn us not to repeat the blunder. We know people were burnt alive in the name of religion. Therefore, my conception is that sovereignty must rest with the people and not with anybody else.... e words "equal rights as enunciated by Islam" are—I do not use any other word—a camouflage. It is only a hoax to us, non-Muslims. There cannot be equal rights as enunciated by Islam. It goes without saying that by introducing the religious question, the differences between the majority and the minority are being perpetuated, for how long, nobody knows. And, as apprehended by us, the difficulty of interpretation has already arisen. The accepted principle is that the majority, by their fair treatment, must create confidence in the minority. Whereas the Honorable mover of the resolution promises respect, in place of charity or sufferance for the minority community the deputy minister, Dr. Qureshi, advises the minority to win the goodwill of the majority by their behavior. In the House of the Legislature also we find that, while the prime minister keeps perfectly to his dictum, others cannot brook that the opposition should function in the spirit of opposition. The demand is that the opposition should remain submissive. That is Dr. Qureshi's way of thinking. The minorities must be grateful for all the benevolence they get and must never complain about the malevolence that may also be dealt out to them. That is his solution to the minority problem.
Muslims
Ayaz Amir
Ayaz Amir () is a Pakistani Journalist, columnist, former military officer,diplomat and politician. Previously, he had been a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab in 1990s and a member of the National Assembly between 2008 and 2013.
I ...
, a prominent media commentator and a former member of Pakistan's parliament, has criticized the constituent assembly for lavishing attention on this "piece of rhetoric" which was "of no practical benefit to anyone." Even
Maulana Maududi
Abul A'la al-Maududi ( ur, , translit=Abū al-Aʿlā al-Mawdūdī; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist and scholar active in British India and later, following the parti ...
, a big supporter of the resolution, was disappointed with the fact that it did not produce any positive results. According to him, it was such a rain which was neither preceded by a gathering of clouds nor was it followed by vegetation.
According to Ms. Rubina Saigal, an eminent Pakistani intellectual, Maulana Maududi's theory of divine sovereignty was incorporated into the resolution. According to her:
Subsequent to the passage of the Objectives Resolution, all of Pakistan’s constitutions contained religious provisions and the name of the country was changed from (the) Republic of Pakistan to (the) Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The national debates over the kind of nation, state and society envisaged led to compromises being made with the liberal, secular as well as the religious lobby. As a result, the Constitution of 1973, a consensus document, became riddled with internal contradictions regarding citizenship. For example, Article 25 says that all citizens are equal before law while Article 2 says that Islam shall be the state religion. When one religion, to the exclusion of all others, is established as the state religion, how can the followers of other religions be equal citizens? And if they cannot be equal citizens, is democracy possible without citizenship equality? The denial of the right of non-Muslim citizens to become the head of state or government also violates Article 25, which requires equality before the law.[ ]
As mentioned above, the resolution is included in the Annex of the current
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 ...
by virtue of Article 2A of the Constitution.
[Annex – Text of the Constitution of Pakistan](_blank)
Pakistani.org
References
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Constitution of Pakistan
1949 in law
Pakistan Movement
Resolutions (law)
1949 in Pakistan
Government documents of Pakistan
Islam in Pakistan
Government of Liaquat Ali Khan
1949 documents
1940s in Islam