More on Pakistan and Pakistani Christians
Subsequent to the passing of the Objectives Resolution, the Constituent Assembly instituted numerous committees and sub-committees ‘to work out the details of the Constitution on the principles as laid down in the Objectives Resolution’.
The most important among these was the Basic Principles Committee (BPC) which presented its interim report in 1950 that ascribed the Objectives Resolution as a directive principle of state policy. It also constituted a special committee for ‘Talimaat-i-Islamia’ under Syed Suleiman Nadvi. Nadvi was invited from India to be head of the board at a salary of Rs 1,500 per month.
That ‘interim report’ presented by the BPC evoked an extremely sharp and scathing response in East Bengal and the prime minister had to withdraw the report which was revised to address some of the Bengali grievances and presented again before the Constituent Assembly on December 22, 1952. What merits mention here is the "report of the committee on fundamental rights and matters relating to minorities" which was submitted before the Constituent Assembly the same year and was approved. It pleaded for equality of all citizens before the law and no discrimination on grounds of religion, race, or caste.
In 1951, the provincial elections for the Punjab Assembly were held in which Christians had due representation. Muslim League won the elections that included three Christian members of the provincial assembly namely B L Rallia Ram, Fazl Illahi and Mrs. S.P. Singha. Chaudhry Chandu Lal (1907-1986) was elected Deputy Speaker in the same assembly. Though the process of marginalisation of the Christian minority had set in, its influence was still palpable.
When in 1952, seven Christians were burnt alive in the village Matta, district Kasur, the accused party was duly prosecuted and justice dispensed to the perpetrators.
The preamble of the 1956 Constitution was identical to the Objectives Resolution passed by the first Constituent Assembly. Pakistan was designated as Islamic Republic in that constitution. However Article 18 of the constitution provided minorities the right of religious freedom. Article 27 of the Constitution outlined quite succinctly the right of each citizen to qualify for appointment in the service of Pakistan irrespective of his/her religious denomination.
The Objectives Resolution epitomised the deviation from the pluralist vision of Pakistan’s founder, notwithstanding all rights to the minorities in the 1956 Constitution. The report of BPC presented in 1952 provided continuity to the spirit of that Resolution, which was explicitly reflected in the 1956 Constitution.
Despite stark differences between the two constitutions, the ideological legacy resonated in the 1962 Constitution of Ayub Khan. The Objectives Resolution was retained as a preamble along with other Islamic provisions. Besides, teaching of the Quran and Islamiat to the Muslims would be compulsory. It was reiterated that "no law should be repugnant to Islam". However, it accorded full protection to "the legitimate interests (including religious and cultural aspects) of the minorities".
It was also laid down that no law would prevent a religious party or group or sect The system of Basic Democracies introduced by Ayub Khan drastically reduced the possibility for the Christians to successfully contest the polls. Only Joshua Fazal Din (1903-1976) had the courage to contest elections for the Provincial Assembly and could bag just two votes. Probably only Christian B.D. members would have cast their votes for him.
Ayub Khan also abolished the 5 per cent quota for the government services as well as for the technical and other educational institutions that Muslim League had specified from the very outset. In that ‘liberal’ era the rule, whereby two acres of agricultural land for each Christian family of farm labourers was agreed upon after Pakistan’s creation, was also nullified. Thus the opportunities for the Christians to rise to the level of economic viability were snapped.
That was the perspective leading the prominent Christian personalities to think in term of organising their co-religionists politically. Hence in the mid 1960s various Christian parties sprang up like Pakistan Massih League (1964), Convention Massih League (1965), Pakistan Christian Democratic Party, Pakistan Christian National League, Christian National League to name a few. But all these parties and factions failed to make any substantive contribution for its community. Simultaneously many Christian political activists with leftist orientation joined National Awami Party (Bhashani Group) though they opted to form their own group by the name of National Christian Council under the auspices of NAP.
However, Massih Majlis-i-Amal under Immanuel Zafar which came into existence in 1968 was an exception. The Action Committee of Massih Majlis-i-Amal had in its ranks such prominent individuals like Gulzar Chohan, Dr. Stefan Malik, Isaac Socheel and Omer Hayat Omar who also took to the street for the rights of Christians. Hence for the first time the Christian people came onto the streets in agitation, which spread the length and the breadth of the Punjab.
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Ayub Khan’s era was marred with the first instance of atrocity against the Christian minority. It took place in the village Martinabad in Sheikhupura District when blasphemous remarks were found chalked out on the High Schools boundary wall. Consequently, the Muslims of the neighbouring 14 villages flared up and raided the Christian villages Youngsonabad and Martinabad. Christians of the vicinity tried to explain and plead their innocence but all pleadings fell on deaf ears. Attack was launched but under the command of Youngsonabad’s Chaudhry Diljit Lal, they not only repulsed the attack but also defended the Churches as well as their homes and hearths. Eventually the tension was dispelled by the intervention of police from Nankana Sahib.
Ayub Khan’s fall coincided with yet another stint of military, and General Yahya Khan took the reins of power in 1969 and made several enunciations, holding of a free and fair election being one of them. One must not forget the Legal Framework Order and Justice A.R.Cornelius, a Christian, who authored it. Justice Cornelius was appointed as Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs and was assigned with the task of framing a new constitution for Pakistan, which he did remarkably well. However, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto refused to accept that ‘Islamic constitution framed by a zimmi’, besides Mian Tufail Muhammad, then the Amir of Jamaat-i-Islami.
After the birth of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971, the proportion of the minorities in Pakistan was reduced to barely 3 per cent from 23. That proportion was too small to be of any consequence in a state that had an ideological orientation. In 1971, Bhutto assumed power as the president and civilian martial law administrator in what was left of Pakistan. Despite authoritarian tendencies, Bhutto presented the nation with the 1973 constitution which, despite having ‘various consensual points’, was a succinct reflection of the remarkably distinct ‘Muslim’ character that the state of Pakistan was destined to assume. The Objectives Resolution yet again was made the preamble of the Constitution. Article 41 (2) stipulated that the President was to be Muslim similarly article 91(3) said the same about the Prime Minister believing in the finality of the Prophet-hood. Those articles opened a space for the clergy as an interpretative agency. That constitution, for the first time, proclaimed Islam as the state religion.
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The Bhutto regime impacted adversely particularly on the Christians through the nationalisation of the missionary-run educational institutions along with other private colleges in September 1972. This measure was subsequently extended to schools. Ironically, no provision for compensation was made for the owners of those institutions. Nationalisation of the missionary institutions led to country-wide protests. The temperature soared when two Christians (James and Nawaz Masih) were shot dead by Federal Security Force when they were protesting against the nationalisation.
To placate the aggrieved Christian community along with other minorities, Bhutto deputed Maulana Kausar Niazi to organise a National Minority Commission and a Minority Week in 1974. All such measures hardly signified anything substantial. The extremities and strictures of Bhutto had merely been a prelude to the afflictions that the minorities had to endure during the Zia ul Haq era -- 1977 to 1988.
To be continued