Basic Principles Committee
Open-knowledge reference entry
The Basic Principles Committee (BPC) was a specialized committee set up in March 1949 by Khawaja Nazimuddin on the advice of prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan. The committee's sole purpose was to determine the basic underlying principles that would determine future constitutions and legislature in Pakistan.
Initial recommendations and proposals suggested by the BPC were strongly criticized in the local media and the public. Much of the criticism came from East Pakistan where the committee proposals were said to be subversive of the ideology of Pakistan, under-representing the majority province and neglecting the Bengali language thoroughly in the constitutional and legislative process. The suggestion of the formation of a religious oversight board was also seen as "undemocratic [and] an insult to Islam".
Formation
Before the first constituent assembly of Pakistan could formulate any constitution or legislature, it was necessary to put in order the basic principles that would determine how the constitution should be framed. On 7 March 1949, the Objectives Resolution was presented, which serves to this day as the grundnorm for constitutional process in Pakistan. The resolution was adopted by the constituent assembly on 12 March 1949, when 21 members voted for it.
The Basic Principles Committee (BPC) was formed on the same day by the constituent assembly. The committee was set up by governor-general Khawaja Nazimuddin upon advice from Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan.
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