Undoing the past

thenews.com The chief justice's praise for parliament for undoing a change in the phrasing of the Objectives Resolution under the late General Ziaul Haq which removed the word 'freely' in the context of the right of religious minorities to practise their belief is welcome. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry's observation represents the willingness of the court to look at both the pros and cons of the 18th Amendment and to offer applause where it is due. The whispered insinuations of bias obviously have no place. What is astounding is that the 'error' made by parliament in the Zia era, a period of 11 long years that will go down in history as the darkest phase for the minorities and many other vulnerable groups, had gone apparently 'unnoticed' for so long. This does not say much for the calibre of our legislators, the legal advisers of successive governments or indeed civil society. Perhaps it is a matter of priorities. No one who sat in parliament apparently saw the need to defend the position of minorities as significant. But there is another matter here. The removal of one word alone is insufficient. There is much else that is controversial as far as the set of laws we live our lives by is concerned. The Objectives Resolution is among such legislations. The time has come to consider the merits and demerits of Pakistan as a 'theological' state, which defines who is a Muslim and who is not and relegates non-Muslims to the status of lesser citizens through a set of provisions. The matter of citizenship has become secondary. Only a Muslim can hold the posts of president and prime minister. The exclusion of non-Muslims from the office of prime minister comes under the 18th Amendment. What one hand gives the other snatches away. It is time to examine the issue of minorities in our state far more closely. The nature of the Pakistani state needs to be defined. We must all remember that it was created as a place where all minorities would be safe and free from the kind of injustice the Muslim minority faced in a united India. Our politicians need to discover courage and principle. The Objectives Resolution, the blasphemy laws and many other measures that remain on the books must be looked at carefully. The chief justice's generous praise of parliament should encourage it to move further forward and work towards building a stronger and more united society. This after all is what the Founder of the State envisaged. It may still not be too late to move towards this goal.