Michelle Peets

Pakistan was formed on August 14, 1947 as a sovereign state, independent from former British India.   The split came, among other reasons, due to a desire for India’s Muslims to avoid domination by the Hindu majority in the country. Independence came after intense opposition to a separate Muslim state and a civil war that eventually separated the two states.  Coups and long periods of martial law, civil government takeover, national leaders’ deaths, and ethnic group strife led to riots, violence, and the forced migration of millions of Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh refugees across the border into the newly formed country.   While it has shifted between a parliamentary, military, and presidential government,  today it is a federal republic that uses a common law system with significant Islamic law influence.  

Pakistan has not always enjoyed the level of democracy it does today; it came slowly due to the nation’s religious polity and a lack of disciplined political parties.

Although Pakistan’s constitution was adopted in March 1956, martial law was declared in October 1958 until a new constitution was put into effect in August 1973.

The National Assembly adopted the Shari’ah Bill, establishing Shari’ah law (dictated by the Qu’ran) as legally binding to all Muslims in Pakistan.  The Bill promised that nothing in the bill should affect non-Muslims’ personal laws and religious freedoms or customs and ways of life. 

Although democracy has ruled since 1988, it is continuously tried and the future of democratic practices is never certain. The country’s politics are still affected by a variety of ethnic and regional alliances.  Provincialism and ethnic rivalries still serve as a hurdle to complete national integration.  Among some of the largest political parties today are Pakistan’s People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League. 

The 1973 Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan (hereinafter Pakistani Constitution) states that it endeavors to preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on Islamic unity.   The state continues to face problems that impede democracy as Islam competes with regular democratic ideals.  For example, the constitution is known for lacking in women’s rights.   It also creates factions that fuel conflicts between ethnic and religious groups. 

Since 2011, Pakistan has used blasphemy, apostasy, and defamation of religious laws as leverage to restrict religious liberty—in particular, the rights of minorities’ and freedom of expression. 

Because of Pakistan’s current sectarian and religiously-motivated violence and government’s failure to protect members of both majority faith and religious minorities, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has recommended several times that Pakistan be listed as a “country of particular concern.” 

Today, ninety-five percent of the population in Pakistan is Muslim (seventy-five percent are Sunni and twenty-five percent are Shia).  The other five percent are Hindu, Christian, Zoroastrian, Baha’i, Sikh, Buddhist, or other religions. 

Constitutional Provisions and Ordinances on Religion

Pakistan is a democratic state based on Islamic principles of social justice.   Because Pakistan is comprised of such an ethnic and linguistic diversity, it uses Islam as its unifying factor.   The Pakistani constitution notes that Allah has supreme sovereignty over Pakistan, making government responsible to exercise authority within the limits prescribed by Allah, and establishes Islam as the state religion.  Principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance, and social justice are to be fully observed as enunciated by Islam. 

It allows Muslims to “order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah, while providing adequate provisions…for the minorities freely to profess and practice their religions and develop their cultures…”

The Constitution guarantees adequate provision for legitimate minorities, backward and depressed classes’ interests. It also asserts the equality of status and opportunity before the law, social, economic and political justice, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association but all are made subject to (Islamic) law and public morality. 

• Wherein the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah;
• Wherein adequate provision shall be made for the minorities freely to profess and practise their religions and develop their cultures
• … Therein shall be guaranteed fundamental rights, including equality of status, of opportunity and before law, social, economic and political justice, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association, subject to law and public morality;
• Wherein adequate provision shall be made to safeguard the legitimate interests of minorities and backward and depressed classes… 

The Constitution lists Pakistan’s fundamental rights, including the freedom of assembly, speech, press and expression: 

• Every citizen shall have the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of public order. 
• Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, [commission of] or incitement to an offence. 

The constitution also provides for the freedom to profess religion and to manage religious institutions: 

• Subject to law, public order and morality:-
  (a) every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion; and
  (b) every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions. 

The Constitution places Islam as the highest authority yet provides for toleration of other religions and minority groups.  Moreover, in Article 31 the state ensures Muslims in Pakistan the right to live by the principles of Islam:

(1) Steps shall be taken to enable the Muslims of Pakistan, individually and collectively, to order their lives in accordance with the fundamental principles and basic concepts of Islam and to provide facilities whereby they may be enabled to understand the meaning of life according to the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

 (2) The state shall endeavour, as respects the Muslims of Pakistan:

(a) to make the teaching of the Holy Quran and Islamiat compulsory, to encourage and facilitate the learning of Arabic language and to secure correct and exact printing and publishing of the Holy Quran;

(b) to promote unity and the observance of the Islamic moral standards; and

(c) to secure the proper organisation of zakat, [ushr,] auqaf and mosques. 

The Constitution provides for additional safeguards to protect religious minorities, such as the discouragement of parochial and sectarian prejudice, the banning of taxes for one particular religion, and protection against required religious observance at educational facilities:

• The State shall discourage parochial, racial, tribal, sectarian and provincial prejudices among the citizens. 
• No person shall be compelled to pay any special tax the proceeds of which are to be spent on the propagation or maintenance of any religion other than his own.
  (1) No person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive religious instruction, or take part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious worship, if such instruction, ceremony or worship relates to a religion other than his own.
  (2) In respect of any religious institution, there shall be no discrimination against any community in the granting of exemption or concession in relation to taxation.
  (3) Subject to law:
  (a) no religious community or denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that community or denomination in any educational institution maintained wholly by that community or denomination; and
  (b) no citizen shall be denied admission to any educational institution receiving aid from public revenues on the ground only of race, religion, caste or place of birth.
  (4) Nothing in this Article shall prevent any public authority from making provision for the advancement of any socially or educationally backward class of citizens. 

While the Constitution takes measures to include broad rights for women, minorities, and children or “backward” classes, such as education and employment opportunities, these rights are framed within the context of Islam.  Article 34 ensures full participation of women “in all spheres of national life” and Article 35 protects marriage, the family, mother and child while the following articles were created to “eradicate social evils:” not allowing children and women to be employed in jobs not suited to their age or sex, preventing prostitution, gambling, injurious drugs, publication, circulation or display of obscene literature and advertisements, and consumption of alcohol (if not for medicinal purposes) for Muslims and only for religious purposes for non-Muslims.  

Finally, the Constitution provides for non-discrimination in association with access to public places and services:

• In respect of access to places of public entertainment or resort not intended for religious purposes only, there shall be no discrimination against any citizen on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex, residence or place of birth. 
• No citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakistan shall be discriminated against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex, residence or place of birth.