Session 11: Making of the halal constitution.

With the first Pakistani constitution Pakistan being passed in 1956, it would easy to assume that there were no clear set of rules for the government to abide by.

However, Jinnah's somewhat secular tendencies, which have failed to transpire in modern constitutions, show that there were indeed guidelines present, even if they were not in the form of an official constitution.

Heywood claims that one of the primary functions of a constitution is to propagate the values and ideas of a certain government at power. 

In the case of the 1956 constitution, there was a clear leaning towards the attempt to legitimise the Islamisation of the Pakistani state. This was in stark contrast to what, arguably, Jinnah would have wanted for his state. Apart from granting the name of an 'Islamic' republic to Pakistan, other multifold changes were made in the status quo of the time by the instrument of constitution. 

Jump forward to 2015, the effects of the 1973 constitution, along with the amendments, have been gradually showing.

The argument is not whether these effects are bad or not, the point lies in the realisation that different governments or leaders envision a different state. Thus, in the case that their particular regime does not survive, it becomes hard for the society to live under the previous constitution of the fallen regime. In this case, it becomes vital to enact appropriate amendments, by the newly formed government, to bring about an equilibrium in the state of affairs. If not, then a clash of ideas can manifest violence among other things. 

It is of paramount importance to understand that a constitution from 1973, even with its supporting amendments, cannot be expected to be juxtaposed with the current day sociopolitical situation without expecting any sort of backlash.