administration of [Muslim law] by judges belonging to th[ose] schools’. … … Constitutional Debates (Revisited) In 1952 the Basic Principles Committee re-convened to draft a report, ‘revised’ addressing (but also reframing) these traditionalist/Islamist suggestions. Led by Khwaja Nazimuddin—who resigned as Pakistan’s Governor-General to become Prime Minister following the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951—this second report noted that Pakistan’s Head of State should be a Muslim while, at the same time, continuing to embrace the Objectives Resolution as a constitutional preamble. It also added greater non-binding specificity to the overall allocation of parliamentary seats, noting that Pakistan’s eastern and western wings should enjoy exactly equal numbers. Intervening Debates (Revisited) Again, the pattern of dissent was two-fold. Western provinces like the Punjab, while appreciating the principle that Pakistan’s parliamentary seats should be divided equally between its eastern and western wings (notwithstanding East Pakistan’s overall majority), opposed the distribution of seats West Pakistan. And, somewhat predictably, the within lobby representing Groups 1 and 3 insisted that their specialist advice ‘religious’ regarding the status of state-based laws should be ‘Islamic’ ‘binding’. Prime Minister Nazimuddin responded to the concerns articulated by Groups 1 and 3 with a proposal that the Head of State should simply constitute an Board of Ulema ‘advisory’ to rule on the of individual laws (with the unanimous vote of this Board forcing ‘repugnancy’ impugned laws back to the legislature for amendment). But, eventually, the Constituent Assembly decided to reject this accommodation of Group 1, turning instead to a proposal in
administration of [Muslim law] by judges … belonging to th[ose] … schools’. Constitutional Debates (Revisited) In 1952 the Basic Principles Committee re-convened to draft a ‘revised’ report, addressing (but also reframing) these traditionalist/Islamist suggestions. Led by Khwaja Nazimuddin—who resigned as Pakistan’s Governor-General to become Prime Minister following the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951—this second report noted that Pakistan’s Head of State should be a Muslim while, at the same time, continuing to embrace the Objectives Resolution as a non-binding constitutional preamble. It also added greater specificity to the overall allocation of parliamentary seats, noting that Pakistan’s eastern and western wings should enjoy exactly equal numbers. Intervening Debates (Revisited) Again, the pattern of dissent was two-fold. Western provinces like the Punjab, while appreciating the principle that Pakistan’s parliamentary seats should be divided equally between its eastern and western wings (notwithstanding East Pakistan’s overall majority), opposed the distribution of seats within West Pakistan. And, somewhat predictably, the ‘religious’ lobby representing Groups 1 and 3 insisted that their specialist advice regarding the ‘Islamic’ status of state-based laws should be ‘binding’. Prime Minister Nazimuddin responded to the concerns articulated by Groups 1 and 3 with a proposal that the Head of State should simply constitute an ‘advisory’ Board of Ulema to rule on the ‘repugnancy’ of individual laws (with the unanimous vote of this Board forcing impugned laws back to the legislature for amendment). But, eventually, the Constituent Assembly decided to reject this accommodation of Group 1, turning instead to a proposal in
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