Daily Times

The first constitution was made and enforced in  1956, making  Pakistan the Republic of Pakistan.

It proved to be a short-lived document and was abrogated in October 1958 when President Major General Iskander Mirza and first Muslim Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army General Muhammad Ayub Khan had connived and imposed first martial law in the country just after eleven years of  its inception.

The second constitution came in 1962, marking the end of martial law. However, the second martial law, imposed by Commander-in-Chief Yahya Khan in 1969, abrogated the constitution.

It was the constitution of 1973 that, despite several phases of crisis, has endured for seven decades.

The 1973 constitution has been suspended and held in abeyance at least twice. Over twenty amendments have been made to it in 45 years, and has been both criticised and praised.

People who have celebrated country’s independence regularly often forget to mark the anniversary of country’s constitution which has survived years of martial law.

The current constitution, framed after dismemberment of Pakistan following the Fall of Dacca in December 1971, also marked stepping down of country’s first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator.

The remainder of the National Assembly elected in December 1970 had constituted the Constitution Committee through a resolution passed on April 17,1972 in  pursuance  of Article 8 of the National Assembly (Short Session)  Order 1972.

The Committee so constituted and headed by Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri was given the the important task of preparation of a draft of the permanent Constitution by August 1, 1972.

Other members of the  24 members  besides  Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri of  the Constitution Committee were  Dr Mubashir Hasan, Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Malik Meraj Khalid,  Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, Ghous Bux Bizenjo, Ghulam Mustafa Khan Jatoi, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada,  Syed Qaim   Ali Shah, Dr Mrs Ashraf Abbasi, Dr Ghulam Hussain,  Malik Muhammad Akhtar, Maulana Kausar Niazi, Khurshid Hassan Meer,  Sheikh Muhammad Rashid,  Maulana Mufti Mehmud,  Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan,  Muhammad Haneef Khan, Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani,  Professor Ghafoor Ahmad,  Amirzada Khan, Sirdar Shaukat Hyat Khan,  Mian Mumtaz Muhammad Khan Daultana, Niamatullah Khan Shinwari and Begum  Nasim Jehan.

The Constitution Committee held its first meeting on April 22, 1972. The Committee on the whole held 48 sittings spreading over a period of 38 days in all. It had deliberated for 170 hours to come up with the draft Constitution comprising less than 180 articles and six schedules. The average attendance throughout the sittings was 18 out of total strength of 25 members.

Initially, the 1935 Government of India Act was adopted as a provisional constitution, with certain alterations

Out of the members so appointed, Dr Mubahir Hasan, Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Malik Meraj Khalid and Mumtaz Ali Bhutto had resigned from its membership one after the other on account of their other responsibilities connected with their government offices. Ghous Bux Bizenjo also resigned from the Committee raising the number of members resigning during the final sessions of the Committee deliberations to five.

In their place, Malik Muhammad Jaffer,  Ch Jahangir Ali, Ch Barakatullah , Malik Sikander Khan and Mrs Jennifer Jehanzeba Qazi Musa were appointed on the Committee which was also assisted by Special Assistant to the President  M. Rafi Raza and Attorney General of Pakistan Yahya Bakhtiar.

Towards finalization of the onstitution Committee deliberations quite successfully, Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri  also resigned as the Chairman though he remained  associated with as a member.

Draft report of the Constitution Committee was signed by Abdul Hafeez Pirzada as its Chairman other 23 members in Islamabad on December 30, 1972. Mian Mumtaz Muhammad Khan Daultana was the only member who did not sign as he was out of Pakistan.

A number of members had written Notes of Dissent on different counts and these also formed part of the Committee’s draft report which was published in Gazette of Pakistan Extraordinary December 31, 1972. As a matter of fact, they had signed the report conditionally subject to the inclusion of their Notes of Dissent in the report.

Notes of Dissent were written by Sirdar Shaukat Hyat Khan, Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani Siddiqui, Professor Ghafoor Ahmad, Amirzada Khan, Maulana Mufti Mehmud,Niamatullah Khan Shinwari, Mrs Jennifer  Jehanzeba Qazi Musa,  Begum Nasim Jehan and Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri. Their Notes of Dissent  ran into 21 printed pages of the Gazette of Pakistan  in the book.

Out of the makers of the 1973 Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri, Maulana Mufti Mehmud, Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani Siddiqui, Maulana Kausar Niazi, Khurshid Hassan Mir, Sheikh Muhammad Rashid, Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, Ghous Bux Bizenjo,  Sirdar Shaukat Hyat Khan, Mian Mumtaz Muhammad Khan Daultana, Professor Ghafoor Ahmad and Abdul Hafeez Pirzada are among those  who have expired  during the last 45 years.

The Notes of Dissent by the parliamentarians and also making of the 1973 Constitution itself make quite interesting reading and these will be presented at some other time separately.

Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri had resigned from the Committee chairmanship during its meeting on October 9, 1972. As stated above also, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada was unanimously elected as the Chairman in his place.

Due to debate in the National Assembly on the Simla Agreement, the Committee could not proceed ahead according to the schedule originally agreed upon. Accordingly, the Committee had sought and granted extension by the National Assembly till December 31, 1972.

In view of the impending constitutional discussions for which President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had invited the leaders of all parliamentary parties and groups, the Committee decided in its October 9, 1972 meeting to defer further deliberations  till the outcome of the political talks. The discussions between the parliamentary parties leaders were held from October 17 to 20, 1972 and all major constitutional issues of fundamental nature were settled. The participants had had signed the Constitutional Accord on October 20, 1972.

This little piece of” Makers of the longest surviving Constitution “is in all fairness a humble credit and tribute to all the defenders of the 1973 Constitution over the years and those, irrespective of whether they are in the government or in the opposition,  who are working within its framework , honouring and upholding it no matter which position they hold. Survival of 1973 Constitution means a strong, united, prosperous, forward moving and economically stable Pakistan.

The writer is a Lahore-based freelance journalist, columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News) Radio Pakistan, Islamabad and can be reached t zahidriffat@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, April 21^st 2018.