The Objective Resolution (1949)

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 Liaqat 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 Pakistanthrough 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.
States sovereignty:
10. States 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 Pakistanrecognized this principle. In fact, this sentence that the sovereignty belongs to
Almighty Allah is incorporated in all the constitutions ofPakistan. 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 cant
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 thats
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 ofPakistan. The Resolution pledged to give the due respect
and rights to the minorities, backward and depressed classes in the benign society ofPakistan. 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 ofPakistan 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 Pakistans sovereignty and territorial integrity and this is one of the primary functions a govt have to
perform because if you cant protect state sovereignty and if you cant 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.

Importance
The Objectives Resolution is a basic and primary document of the constitutional history of Pakistan. It is
a framework that provides mechanism to achieve goals for a better life of the people of Pakistan.
Whenever we discuss history of constitution making even history of politics OR is very important. Its
important that it embraces centrality of Islam to polity sustaining their links with the pre-independence
period and the post independence period. The AIML leaders were modernist Muslims not in favour of an
orthodox religious state. Therefore, they selected the middle way abiding by the Islamic laws and the
international democratic values. The Resolution remained Preamble of all the constitutions due to its
importance. And during the period of General Zia-ul-Haq OR was incorporated in the constitution of
Pakistan as the article 2-A.