Constituent Assembly of Pakistan

{{short description|Former federal legislature of Pakistan (1947–1956)}} {{Infobox legislature | name = Constituent Assembly of Pakistan | native_name = | native_name_lang = | transcription_name = | legislature = | coa_pic = | coa_caption = | coa_res = | coa_alt = | logo_pic = Emblem of Pakistan Constituent Assembly.svg | logo_caption = | logo_res = | logo_alt = | house_type = Unicameral house | body = | term_limits = | foundation = {{Start date|df=yes|1947|08|10}} | disbanded = {{Start date|df=y|1956|03|23}} | preceded_by = Constituent Assembly of India | succeeded_by = Parliament of Pakistan | new_session = | leader1_type = | leader1 = | party1 = Muslim League | election1 = | leader2_type = President | leader2 = Muhammad Ali Jinnah | party2 = Pakistan Muslim League | election2 = | leader3_type = | leader3 = | party3 = | election3 = | leader4_type = | leader4 = | party4 = | election4 = | leader5_type = | leader5 = | party5 = | election5 = | | | party6 = | election6 = | leader7_type = | leader7 = | party7 = | election7 = | seats = 96 | house1 = | structure1 = | structure1_res = | structure1_alt = | political_groups1 = | committees1 = | joint_committees = | voting_system1 = | last_election1 = | next_election1 = | session_room = | session_res = | session_alt = | meeting_place = Sindh Assembly building, Karachi | footnotes = | motto = }}

The '''Constituent Assembly of Pakistan'''{{efn|The Constituent Assembly officially used its Persian name, alongside the English name. The names in all languages were: {{langx|fa|پاکستان مجلس دستورن|pākistān majlis dastūran}} {{langx|bn|পাকিস্তান গণপরিষদ|pākistān goṇoporishod}} {{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|آئین ساز اسمبلی پاکستان}}|ā'īn-sāz asimblī pākistān}} {{langx|pnb|{{nq|پاکستان دا آئین ساز مجلس}}|pākastān dā ā'īn-sāz majlas}} {{langx|sd|{{resize|{{Naskh|پاڪستان جي آئين ساز اسيمبلي}}}}|pākistān jī ā'īn-sāz assēmblī}} {{langx|ps|د پاکستان اساسي قانون جوړونکې جرګه|dá pākistān asāsī qānūn joṛonkī jirgāh}} {{langx|bal|پاکستان ءِ آئین ساز اسمبلی|pákastán ay áén sáz ásambali}}}} was the supreme federal legislature of the Dominion of Pakistan. It was established in August 1947 with the primary tasks of framing a constitution; and serving as an interim parliament. It was officially dissolved on 23 March 1956 and succeeded by the Parliament of Pakistan when the first Pakistani constitution was promulgated.<ref name="Constitutional-framework">{{Cite web |title=Pakistan - Constitutional framework |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Pakistan/Constitutional-framework |url-status=live |access-date=2021-07-13 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609184652/https://www.britannica.com/place/Pakistan/Constitutional-framework |archive-date=2020-06-09}}</ref>

== First Session == The members were originally elected to the Constituent Assembly of India before they abdicated in the aftermath of the partition of India. Later the members were elected in 1947 elections. The members were as follows:<ref>{{Cite web |title=1st Constituent Assembly |url=http://www.na.gov.pk/uploads/former-members/1st%20Constituent%20Assembly.pdf |url-status=live |website=National Assembly of Pakistan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412083241/http://www.na.gov.pk:80/uploads/former-members/1st%20Constituent%20Assembly.pdf |archive-date=2013-04-12}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable" ! Province !! Members |- ! East Bengal | Abdullah al Mahmood, Maulana Mohammad Abdullah el Baqui, Abdul Hamid, Abul Kashem Khan, Mohammad Akram Khan, Azizuddin Ahmad, Muhammad Habibullah Bahar, Prem Hari Barma, Raj Kumar Chakraverty, Sris Chandra Chattopadhyaya, Abdul Matin Chaudhary, Murtaza Raza Choudhry, Hamidul Haq Chowdhury, Akhay Kumar Das, Dhirendra Nath Datta, Bhupendra Kumar Datta, Ebrahim Khan, A. K. Fazlul Huq, Fazlur Rahman, Ghayasuddin Pathan, Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, Liaquat Ali Khan, Mafizuddin Ahmad, Mahmud Hussain, Jnanendra Chandra Majumdar, A. M. Malik, Birat Chandra Mandal, Jogendra Nath Mandal, Mohammad Ali Bogra, Khwaja Nazimuddin, Nur Ahmed, Nurul Amin, Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, Dhananjoy Roy, Maudi Bhakesh Chanda, Serajul Islam, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Osmani, Khwaja Shahabuddin, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Harendra Kumar Sur, Tamizuddin Khan, Kamini Kumar Dutta, Malik Ghulam Muhammad |- ! West Punjab | Mumtaz Daultana, Ganga Saran, Bhim Sen Sachar, Zafarullah Khan, Iftikhar Hussain Khan, Mian Muhammad Iftikharuddin, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Sheikh Karamat Ali, Nazir Ahmad Khan, Sardar Abdur Rab Nistar, Feroz Khan Noon, Omar Hayat Malik, Shah Nawaz Begum Jahan Ara, Sardar Shaukat Hyat Khan |- ! style="width: 50px;"| Northwest Frontier Province | Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Sardar Bahadur Khan, Sardar Asad Ullah Jan Khan |- ! Sindh | Abdus Sattar Abdur Rahman, Muhammad Hashim Gazdar, Muhammad Ayoob Khuhro |- !Balochistan | Nawab Mohammad Khan Jogezai |}

Pakistan's Constituent Assembly first convened on August 10, 1947, on the eve of independence and the end of British rule.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Parliamentary History |url=http://www.na.gov.pk/en/content.php?id=75 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-07-12 |website=National Assembly of Pakistan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629225226/http://www.na.gov.pk:80/en/content.php?id=75 |archive-date=2011-06-29}}</ref> Muhammad Ali Jinnah was elected as the president of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on the same day and remained its president until his death on September 11, 1948.<ref name=":0" /> Subsequently, Liaquat Ali Khan headed it for three years and produced the Objectives Resolution, which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on March 12, 1949, as an annex to Pakistan's constitution.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hasan |first=Ali Dayan |date=2010-08-06 |title=Objective reality |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/551365/objective-reality |access-date=2021-07-12 |work=Dawn |location=Pakistan |language=en}}</ref> It is important to mention that 21 members out of 69 voted for the Objectives Resolution.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Hamid Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/constitutional-and-political-history-of-pakistan-9780199407828 |title=Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan |publisher=OUP |year=2017 |isbn=9780199407828 |edition=3rd |location=Karachi}}</ref> The assembly had a majority of Muslim League members, with the Pakistan National Congress, the successor to the INC in the state, forming the second largest party, solely representing Hindus. thumb|262x262px|Quaid-e-Azam replying to the Address by Lord Mountbatten in Constituent Assembly on 14 August 1947.

The assembly was widely criticised for its incompetence. Addressing a rally in Lahore on October 14, 1950, Syed Abul Ala Maududi, leader of the Jamaat e Islami demanded its dissolution, arguing that the "lampost legislators" were incapable of drawing up an Islamic constitution.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy said that assembly did not possess any of the characteristics of a democratic parliament.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} He argued that the nation would overlook any unconstitutional action on the governor general's part if he exorcised the fascist demon and established representative institutions.<ref>{{cite book |author=Inamur Rehman |title=Public Opinion and Political Development in Pakistan |year=1982 |location=Karachi |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-577268-7 |page=}}</ref> The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was dissolved on October 24, 1954, by Governor General Malik Ghulam Muhammad.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=History of Parliaments in Pakistan |url=https://nationalassembly.tripod.com/descrip.htm |access-date=2021-07-13 |website=nationalassembly.tripod.com}}</ref> The dissolution was challenged by the president of the assembly in the notable case of ''Federation of Pakistan v. Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan'', in which the federal court took the side of the governor general, in spite of dissent from one judge. Mohammad Ali Bogra was the Prime Minister of Pakistan at the time.<ref name=":0" />

== Second Session == The second Constituent Assembly was elected in the Second Constituent Assembly election on June 21, 1955.

The members of the 2nd constituent assembly were<ref>{{Cite web |title=2nd Constitute Assembly from 1955- 1958 |url=https://www.na.gov.pk/uploads/former-members/2nd%20Constituent%20Assembly.pdf |website=National Assembly of Pakistan}}</ref> {|class="wikitable" ! Province !! Members |- | East Bengal |Abdul Aleem, Abdul Karim, Muhammad Abdul Khaleque, Abdul Wahab Khan, Abdul Rahman Khan, Abdus Sattar, Abdul Mansur Ahmad, Adeluddin Ahmad, Ataur Rahman Khan, Athar Ali, Gour Chandra Bala, Canteswar Barman, Abdul Latif Biswas, Hamidul Huq Choudhury, Nurul Huq Choudhury, Yusuf Ali Chowdhury, Akshay Kumar Das, Basanta Kumar Das, A.H. Deldar Ahmed, Bhupendra Kumar Datta, Kamini Kumar Dutta, Farid Ahmad, A. K. Fazlul Huq, Sardar Fazlul Karim, Fazlur Rahman, Peter Paul Gomez, Lutfur Rahman Khan, Mahfuzul Huq, Mahmud Ali, Rasa Raj Mandal, Misbahuddin Hussain, Mohammad Ali Bogra, Moslem Ali Molla, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Muzaffar Ahmed, Nurur Rahman, Sailendra Kumar Sen, Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish, Sheikh Zahiruddin |- | West Punjab | Mian Abdul Bari Arain, Abdul Hamid Khan Soofi, Syed Abid Hussain Shah, Syed Amjad Ali, Sardar Amir Azam Khan, Malik Amir Mohammad Khan, Chaudhuri Aziz Din, Chaudhury Muhammad Hussain Chatha, I.I. Chundrigar, Chaudhury Abdul Hamid Khan Dasti, Mian Mumtaz Muhammad Khan Daultana, Chaudhury Abdul Ghani Ghuman, Cecil Edward Gibbon, Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani, Syed Alamdar Hussain Shah Gilani, Iftikhar Hussain Khan, Mozaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash, Mian Iftikharuddin, Mir Balak Sher Mazari, Syed Mohyuddin Lal Badshah, Malik Feroz Khan Noon |- | Bahawalpur state | Ahmad Nawaz Shah Gardezi, Mian Abdus Salam |- | North West Frontier Province | Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan, Mian Jaffer Shah, Khan Mohammad Jalaluddin Khan, M. R. Kayani |- | Frontier States | Miangul Jahan Zeb |- | Federally Administered Tribal Areas | Malik Jehangir Khan Madda Khel Wazir, Malik Waris Khan Mardinkhel Afridi, Khan Bahadur Haji Malik Mehrdil Khan Muhsud |- | Sindh | Ali Muhammad Rashidi, Haji Moula Baksh Soomro, M.A. Khuhro, Siroomal Kirpaldas, Mir Ghulam Ali Khan Talpur |- | Khairpur (princely state) | Mumtaz Hasan Kizilbash |- | Balochistan | Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan |- | Baluchistan States Union | Nawab Mir Baian Khan Gichki |- | Federal Capital Territory | Yusuf Haroon |- |}

The Muslim League continued to be the largest party in this assembly, whereas the Krishak Sramik Party led United Front replaced the Pakistan National Congress as the main opposition group. The constitution was promulgated on March 23, 1956,{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} making Pakistan an Islamic republic.<ref name="Constitutional-framework" /> On October 7, 1958, martial law was imposed on the country by Iskander Mirza, with army chief Ayub Khan appointed as the chief martial law administrator.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Pakistan's Constitution |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/pakistans-constitution |access-date=2021-07-13 |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en}}</ref> The new leaders abrogated the constitution, declaring it unworkable.<ref name=":2" />

After coming to power, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto invited the leaders of the parliamentary parties to meet him on October 17, 1972, which led to an agreement known as the 'constitutional accord', which was reached after intensive talks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Constitution |url=https://embassyofpakistan.com/pages/view/3 |access-date=2021-07-12 |website=embassyofpakistan.com}}</ref> As per consultations floated by the PPP, the National Assembly of Pakistan appointed a 25-member committee led by Mahmud Ali Kasuri on April 17, 1972, to prepare a draft of a permanent constitution for Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite news |last=InpaperMagazine |first=From |date=2012-08-26 |title=A leaf from history: Soothing the nerves |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/744578/a-leaf-from-history-soothing-the-nerves |access-date=2021-07-12 |work=Dawn |location=Pakistan |language=en}}</ref> On October 20, 1972, the draft bill for the constitution was signed by leaders of all parliamentary groups in the National Assembly. A bill to provide a constitution for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was introduced in the assembly on February 2, 1973. The assembly passed the bill nearly unanimously on April 10, 1973, and it was endorsed by the acting President Bhutto on April 12, 1973.<ref name="autogenerated7">[http://www.badassoftheweek.com/musa.html] Jennifer Musa</ref><ref name=":1" /> The constitution came into effect on August 14, 1973.<ref name=":1" /> On the same day, Bhutto took over as the prime minister and Choudhary Fazal-e-Elahi as the president, both for a 5-year term.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-06-01 |title=Fazal Ilahi becomes President |url=https://storyofpakistan.com/fazal-ilahi-becomes-president/ |access-date=2021-07-13 |website=Story Of Pakistan |language=en-US}}</ref>

On July 5, 1977, General Zia staged a military coup, suspended the constitution (which was later restored in 1985), and declared martial law.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-07-02 |title=How Zia Ruled: 1977-1988 |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1342695 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-07-13 |work=Dawn |location=Pakistan |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702053918/https://www.dawn.com/news/1342695 |archive-date=2017-07-02}}</ref> Similarly, when General Musharraf took over in 1999, the constitution was suspended for several years and the parliament was dissolved.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pervez Musharraf {{!}} Biography, History, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pervez-Musharraf |access-date=2021-07-13 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==External links== *[http://www.na.gov.pk/en/content.php?id=75 History of Pakistan's National Assembly]

Category:Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Category:Parliament of Pakistan Category:Pakistan Movement Category:Constitution of Pakistan Category:Government of Pakistan