Pak court debates possibility of secular state
May 05, 2015  15:46
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Can Islamic Republic of Pakistan be a secular state? The question was raised by Pakistan's Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk himself while hearing petitions challenging the procedure for appointment of superior court judges under the 18th Amendment and establishment of military courts under the 21st Amendment to try terrorists.


A 17-judge full court is hearing the case. Mulk wondered if article 2 of the Constitution stating Islam as state religion can be replaced with secularism and asked could it be done by the present parliament or a Constituent Assembly would be needed, Dawn newspaper reported.


"Can a political party with unequivocal support in its manifesto to secularism, if given vast majority by the people, still be entitled to change the Constitution," asked Justice Main Saqib Nisar.


"Not without a referendum," said senior counsel Hamid Khan, representing at least three district bar associations which had challenged the amendment.

The salient feature of the Constitution that "recognises Islam as a grundnorm (fundamental norm)" is not open to changes, he said. The debate on secularism started when Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, while sharing his thoughts, observed that Pakistan had been created in 1947 in the name of Islam and it was declared that Islam would be the state religion. After the formation of Pakistan, majority population from East Pakistan broke away and carved a new state called Bangladesh and framed a new Constitution by changing its basic feature to be secular.


Even when Bangladesh's former president General Hussain Mohammad Ershad tried to change the basic feature to Islam, it was challenged and struck down by the Supreme Court of that country, Justice Khosa said.
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