Basic Principles Committee
Basic Principles Committee (BPC) was set up on March 12, 1949, by Khawaja Nazimuddin to determine the basic principles of the future constitutions of Pakistan.[1]
History
The committee was established on the advice of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. It was the most important of the committees, which were set up to draw the future constitutions on the basis of the principles given in the Objectives Resolution. It held two meetings in April 1949, and set up three subcomittees to deal with subjects like the distribution of powers, federal and provincial constituions, judicinary and franchise, as well as a Board of Talimat-i-Islamia (teachings of Islam) to advise on matters arising out of the Objectives Resolution.[2]
Dawn published the main recommendations of one of the subcommittees on September 27, 1950, raising a firestorm of protest. It was called reactionary, undemocratic, an insult to Islam, smacking of fascist approach, subversive of the ideology of Pakistan, and a gross betrayal of the solemn pledges made to the people. On October 4, 1950, Nawa-i-Waqt editorially called it a 'charter of people's slavery.'[3]
The committee held its last meeting on December 19, 1952, when its report was signed. It was a stormy affair. Mumtaz Daultana, Nurul Amin, Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz, A.H. Gardezi, Justice Abdul Rashid and Maulana Mohammad Akram Khan were conspicuous by their absense. Malik Shaukat Ali signed it conditionally. The report was presented to the assembly on December 22, 1952.
The modernists denounced the report as a 'surrender to mullahism', a 'statutory recognition of priesthood' designed to create a 'medieval theocracy in the twentieth century.' Dawn (December 31, 1952) wrote the committee had exceeded the limits prescribed the Objectives Resolution. Even Nawa-i-Waqt (December 26, 1952) described the suggestion of creating the ulema's board 'utterly democratic'. The ulema's board was to vet legislation to make sure that it was in keeping with the teachings of Islam. [4]
Members
The committee had 24 members. Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan and Liaquat Ali Khan were its president and vice-president.
References
- ^ http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A136
- ^ Inamur Rehman,Public Opinion and Political Development in Pakistan (Karachi, Oxford, 1982)
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Ibid.
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