When is Pakistan’s Republic Day? A brief history of the country’s 3 Constitutions

Here is a brief history of how Pakistan became a Republic, and of its three Constitutions.

Significance of March 23

On March 23 in 1940, the All India Muslim League adopted the Lahore Resolution, demanding a separate nation for Muslims. In independent Pakistan, thus, this day is celebrated as Pakistan Day. In 1956, on the same day, the country officially adopted its first Constitution, which transformed the Dominion of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

“Today, for the average Pakistani, the significance of Pakistan Day, celebrated with a display of military might, is more than Republic Day. Awareness and literacy about the Constitution is not very high,” Shafique Soomro, Karachi resident and public policy graduate from the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad, told The Indian Express.

The first, 1956 Constitution

Both India and Pakistan started their journey as independent nations in August 1947. However, while India became a Republic on January 26, 1950, it took Pakistan nine years and two Constituent Assemblies to adopt a Constitution. The death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah soon after Pakistan was formed, political instability, the enormity of the task at hand, and the dissolving of the first Constituent Assembly in 1954 by Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad, who felt it was clipping his powers, all contributed to it.

“The drawing up of Pakistan’s Constitution was an unprecedented exercise: for the first time, a modern democratic nation was trying to give itself an Islamic Constitution. The Constituent Assembly had three thorny challenges – to decide the nature and extent of Islam’s influence on the Constitution; to balance the rights and interests of East and West Pakistan; and to safeguard minority rights in a nation born as a Muslim homeland,” said Yaqoob Khan Bangash, Pakistani author and fellow, Harvard University’s South Asia Institute. “Pakistan’s Constitution eventually served as an example for other Islamic countries, such as Malaysia and Nigeria,” Bangash added.

Disagreements had surfaced in the Assembly debates early on. On March 12, 1949, the Constituent Assembly passed the Objectives Resolution, meant to serve as a guide for the Constitution.

Sections of the Resolution read, “Sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Allah 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. The principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance, and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed, the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah.”

Jinnah replying to the address by Lord Mountbatten in Constituent Assembly on August 14, 1947. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

While the Resolution did say that “adequate provision shall be made for the minorities to freely progress and practice their religions and develop their cultures,” minority members of the Assembly objected to it, with Dhaka-born Sris Chandra Chattopadhyaya saying, “In my conception of (the) state where people of different religions live there is no place for religion in the state.” Yet others pointed out that the spirit of the Resolution went against Jinnah’s vision of an equal Pakistan. The Objectives Resolution was finally adopted with all 10 minority members voting against it.

Seven years after this, the first Constitution was adopted, with the Islamic republic having a unicameral Parliament, of 300 members divided equally between West and East Pakistan.

This Constitution proved short-lived, abrogated by President Sikandar Mirza on October 7, 1958, and replaced with martial law.

The second Constitution

Sikandar Mirza was promptly replaced as President by his Commander-in-Chief, General Muhammad Ayub Khan. Under him, Pakistan got its second Constitution in 1962.

“This Constitution was not a consensus document, and heavily concentrated powers in the hands of the President,” Dr. Ali Usman Qasmi, Associate Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences, told The Indian Express. “Under this Constitution, the all-powerful President was to be elected indirectly – an electoral college of ‘Basic Democrats’, elected by the public, would choose the President. Although, interestingly, this was the Constitution that sought inputs from the common people, in a bid to give it some legitimacy,” Qasmi added.

This Constitution lasted for seven years. On March 25, 1969, martial law was imposed again, by General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan. Under him, the first general elections were held in December 1970. The results of this election set in motion the change of events that created Bangladesh in 1971.

The third, and current, Constitution

In 1973, Pakistan got the Constitution that still governs it. “The three key features of this Constitution are a Parliamentary democracy, where power rests with an elected Prime Minister and his ministers answerable to Parliament; a federal structure; and expanded fundamental rights,” said Bangash. “The Prime Minister has to be elected, he can’t come from the Upper House. Also, both President and PM have to be Muslims. The 18th amendment of 2010 is another crucial feature, which empowered the Provincial governments to a great degree, diluting the powers held by the Federal government,” he added.

This Constitution was suspended twice, under General Zia-ul-Haq (1977-1985) and General Pervez Musharraf (1999-2002). However, over time, various amendments have removed a lot of changes brought in by Zia.

Republic Day celebrations today

Soomro said there haven’t been many attempts to create awareness about the Constitution and its significance at the national level. “Recently, the government has said federal schools will include the Constitution in the syllabus. But at present, only those studying relevant courses at college level, or preparing for civil services exams, read about the Constitution in any detail. The public’s experience of laws is not that they flow from a central, guiding document, but that various governments bring in whatever measures they deem necessary, either out of populism or to hold on to power.”

Qasmi, however, said that is changing. “Over the past years, awareness about the Constitution and the rights it guarantees is increasing among Pakistanis. Be it the Baloch people, the Aurat March, or any other group agitating for their rights, people are increasingly framing their demands in the language of the Constitution,” he said.