BY: Khurshid Ahmed.
The of the October Proclamation of the Governor-General of Pakistan shook the country to its roots and administered a shattering blow to the political wranglings that reigned supreme. But, what followed was no better. Plans to bridle and control democracy were set afoot and even the threats of Martial Law appeared to loom large on the political horizon. Out of this hope-rending political shambles has emerged, like the legendary Phoenix, new Constituent Assembly of Pakistan an august body entrusted with the great and noble task of framing the constitution for the ONLY constitutionless state of the world.
The new Constituent Assembly is meeting at a critical period of Pakistan’s history. It can make or mar this nascent state’s destiny. It has been given a rare opportunity by history to lead the people out of the suffocating mists of. confusion, bewilderment, frustration and anxiety into the clean and lively air of stability and self-confidence. This is the most critical period of our history and the time is most opportune to review the situation and mark the proper lines of future development.
An objective glance back at the eight years of our history convinces us that the basic malady which has infested our political life is the CORRUPT POLITICS. Politics is regarded as the game of the vulgar, the ‘last resort of the scoundrel’. Moral values have been thrown to the winds and ideological considerations have become irrelevant. Political parties have lost their popular support. The sole objective of the politicians has become the pursuit of power for themselves, devil taking the hindmost. This amoral political atmosphere has proved most congenial for all kinds of corruption. Conspiracies have thrived and scrambles have grown to majority. And the voice of the people has lost all its value in this babel of power-politics.
We want the constitution makers to realise the dangers embedded in this situation. Stability can never be achieved on these explosive grounds. The time has come when the political leaders should see ahead of their noses and think in terms of the country and the people. The members of the Constitution assembly are responsible before the people of Pakistan, they should realise their responsibility. They should bow to the popular will. They should devote themselves selflessly to the uphill task of constitution-making and produce a constitution which is in consonance with the hopes and aspirations of the people.
A constitution is the most important legal document of a nation, the highest law, the very basis of the state. It is the fundamental law of a country. It is a statement of the aims and ideals of the state and is the basic charter envisaging the policies of the state, guaranteeing the rights of the citizens and endowing the state with the authority to occupy its rightful place in the community of nations. Such a document must be drafted with the greatest care and responsibility and must cater to the needs of the country. It must embody the General Will and reflect the ideals of the nation.
If a constitution does not represent the will of the people, if it is unable to inspire their unstinted support, it is not worth the paper it is written on.
Now the question arises: What do the people of Pakistan want? The answer is simple. is simple. They want an Islamic Constitution. They have been struggling all agog for the establishment of an Islamic State. Syed Ismail Shaheed and Syed Ahmed gave their precious lives for this noble cause. Pakistan was conceived as an Islamic State and its price was paid in the form of thousands of lives and millions of homes and hearths. Throughout the last eight years the people have been demanding an Islamic constitution and the demand has been so pronounced that only the deaf and the blind can claim its ignorance. The verdict of the people has come time and again—now the duty of constitutional pundits is to give a legal orientation to the hopes and aspirations of the people, by framing an Islamic Constitution. And let us remind our leaders that an Islamic Constitution is one which embodies the following points:
- The Sovereignty of Allah. This sovereignty is legal as well as political and it means that the Will of God, as expressed in Quran and Sunnah, is to form the mainspring of legislation and the state-policy. No law, repugnant to Quran and Sunnah, can be written or retained in the Statute Book.
- The purpose of the state is to bid right and virtue and forbid wrong and vice.
- The vicegerency of the Ummat is popular and the people have the right to choose their rulers. Democratic institutions and not despotism or dictatorship, are to form the structure of the politics.
- Fundamental rights of the people will be guaranteed and made unalienable. People will have the freedom of opinion, expression, movement and fear from starvation. Their basic necessities of life will be guaranteed and their liberty will never be encroached upon, save with due process of law.
- Education will be given proper importance and ignorance will be banished from the country root and branch.
The Constitution, which the members of the Constitution assembly are going to frame, must contain the above-mentioned points. Then alone will it satisfy the wishes of the people and carry a popular sanction. A constitution which does not reflect the General Will is not a constitution at all; it is a charter of slavery and acts as fetters to progress. And the people of Pakistan are determined to break all fetters impeding their unhampered progress towards the great ideal ISLAM.
