Basic structure myth

—Yasser Latif Hamdani

From Daily Times

Thank heavens the apex court in our country has shied away from answering the question of basic structure and binding, as it were, the dreams and aspirations of the future generations of this great state of ours to what is essentially a hackneyed idea.

Does the Pakistani constitution have a basic structure? Could the general will of a people be suspended cryogenically in a period of our choice? The founding father of this nation at least answered this question with an emphatic no when he vetoed a resolution by some Muslim League quarters to commit Pakistan to an Islamic polity. He sternly told them that this would amount to “censure” on every Leaguer and that the people of Pakistan alone would decide what their constitution would be.