Barkat Ullah
The treaty of Westphalia brought tremendous changes to the political system of the world. Along with other features; it reshaped the nation-state system with several significant factors and modern political and social dynamics. The modern day nation state system came into being as a result of important terms and conditions. Among such, the most important one is social contract between subjects that are mainly citizens and the state. In order to enjoy civil, economic and political liberty, citizens surrender their wills to the state and in return, the state guarantees these liberties to the citizens. Thus, citizens become loyal and sincere towards the state, and in return the state signs a social contract with the citizens which is based on various sureties and commitments. Thus, the social contract that is also called the constitution, is probably the masterpiece; which intact not only law and order but is the binding force for various ethnicities within state’s territory as well. Coming towards the case of Pakistan, which is a diverse country. It has a number of cultures, ethnicities and social communities. These ethnicities are various from each other in terms of cultures, societal norms, customs and traditions. For instance, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa majority of the people are belonged to the Pashtun community; that have completely different social norms and cultural inclinations. To the larger extent, people of KP are closely similar with the people of Afghanistan. It is because, these people have same history, culture, ancestors,religion and rituals on both side of the Durand line. Similarly, people of Punjab province are highly different from the people of KP in terms of these aspects. Keeping their religious beliefs aside, people of Punjab are highly identical with Indian people; when one considers their social gatherings, cultural heritage and societal norms. Moreover, the people of Sindh and Baluchistan are non-identical towards other people of Pakistan apart from their religious similarities. Despite all these differences, the only thing that is binding them together is the law of the land that is constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In other words, the constitution is the only thing upon which the phenomena of being Pakistani entirely depends. On the paper, the constitution of Pakistan is a strong document with federal in character, having impactful provincial autonomy. It promises an individual with social, political and economic liberty on both personal and collective level. The initial articles from 8 to 28 of the constitution comprise of such guarantees. According to such constitutional assurances a person is allowed to exercise their rights in economic, social, religious and political spheres freely without any state restrictions.Similarly, the article 224 of the constitution narrates that in case of dissolution of any provincial and national assembly, elections should be held within ninety days. Practically, in the current times,these articles and provisions are being violated continuously by the state’s machinery, in order to gain their desired agenda. The current time in Pakistan is probably the most alarming one; in which various parts of the constitution are dismantled by the ruling regime. This means that, the people are deprived from the basic human rights; thus, their identity of being Pakistani is at deep stake. People of the two provinces are denied to give them their basic political rights that are elections, despite the fact that the supreme court has also given a clear jurisdiction in this regard. Similarly, these provinces are run by interim governments; which have lost their constitutional mandate of governing. The regime has dismantled the rule of law; instead there is might is right and rule of power in the Pure Land. It is abducting citizens in order to satisfy its politicallyrevenging desires. Citizens are deprived from getting legal assistance; and are kept in detentions unlawfully. This constitutional crisis is much bigger and serious than the economic one; which is either misunderstand or deliberately ignored by the ruling elites. When the social contract is undermined and political vengeance and the desires of the powerful take its place, then the disintegration of the state becomes inevitable. In case of countries like Pakistan, the situations become worst as it comprises of diverse cultures, and the constitution is the only binding force. Therefore, in order to avoid any constitutional default, serious political reforms are the need of the hour at national level.