KARACHI: Hafeez Pirzada was a man of principles whose personality was marked by his uprightness. He was one of the country’s foremost lawyers. The government should seriously think about giving him a civilian award.

This was said by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, while presiding over a programme organised by the Endowment Fund Trust (EFT) for Preservation of the Heritage of Sindh to pay tribute to the former law and culture minister and the author of the Constitution of Pakistan, the late Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, at the Mohatta Palace Museum on Saturday evening.

Contribution to society

Justice Jamali said Mr Pirzada, who passed away on Sept 1, 2015, was an internationally renowned lawyer. He said he had a distinct identity as a politician and lawyer. He said his father too was a distinguished lawyer who was a minister in the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s first cabinet. Highlighting Mr Pirzada’s contribution to society, he said after Pakistan was dismembered in 1971, there was chaos in the country. At such a critical juncture, a committee led by him was able to give the country a constitution. He said the general public would know the significance of this achievement.

Justice Jamali said frequent impositions of martial law had left a majority of people unaware of the spirit of democracy (aksariat jamhuriat ki rooh se nabalad rahi). He said it resulted in lawlessness. He said Mr Pirzada was a man of principles who was known for his uprightness. He said he was barely in his 30s when he became the law minister of the country. Between 1972 and 1977 he had portfolios of eight ministries, he said. He said his biggest contribution was that he was the leader of the team that came up with the Constitution.

Justice Jamali said after the removal of the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto government, Mr Pirzada excluded himself from politics and did not become part of any setup of the rulers. He said despite the fact that the PPP again came to power he did not join the party. He always preferred national interest over personal interest, he said.

Justice Jamali said Mr Pirzada served his profession for 57 years. He was one of the country’s foremost lawyers. He said when the 21st Amendment was being discussed in the court he requested to be there because of his experience with drafting of the 1973 Constitution. He said he was personally impressed with Mr Pirzada and when he came to know that he had fallen ill he wanted to personally inquire after his health. He said he reached England on July 31 with the intention of going to the hospital where he was receiving treatment, but the very next day he got to know through the media that he was no more. He said the government should seriously think about honouring Mr Pirzada with a civilian award.

After his speech, responding to a comment made by the host of the evening Hamid Akhund, Justice Jamali said soon there would be a reference at the Supreme Court in honour of Justice Rana Bhagwandas.

1973 Constitution

Earlier, Justice Amir Hani Muslim said Mr Pirzada was one of the finest lawyers and politicians of Pakistan. He said his contribution to the 1973 Constitution was immense and unparalleled. He said he also played a role in having shaped Pakistan “the way we see it today”. He said he was a genuine person whose absence would be felt for years to come.

The CEO of the Dawn Group of Newspapers, Hameed Haroon, said Mr Pirzada was a remarkable man. Pointing out the different facets of his personality, he said he was a man of culture. He said culture was a nebulous concept. He said Mr Pirzada was able to build cultural structures and created institutions with specific roles. He said people like Faiz Ahmed Faiz were involved in cultural institutions at the time. He said not all of it was successful, but it was a different time because there was a need to chalk out areas where cultural policy could be used as an expression of unity and diversity of the nation. He said as a person he was kind and intellectually astute.

One of the sons of Mr Pirzada, Haseeb, complying with his brother’s request, first read out something that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto wrote about their father in which the former prime minister had said that the young lawyer (Hafeez Pirzada) had done a great service to Pakistan. He said his father’s love and respect for the people was uncanny. He said he was able to engage with them. He said be it a hari or a dignitary, he had equal time for them. He said his father was a great teacher who had the ability to instil confidence in others.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2016