A person should get married only once they are ready for it.
LAHORE: This is with reference to a report in your newspaper titled “Girls should marry aged 16-18: Ahmedinejad”. The Iranian president also thinks boys should marry aged 19-21 (November 22). A person should get married only once they are ready for it. This is too important a decision for society to determine and it is best left for individuals to decide. Pakistan has one of the highest birth rates in the world largely due to the fact that people get married at younger ages and hence their child-bearing years are far more than those in other countries who marry much later.
An average person takes around 24 years to complete their education, enter the workforce and find a decent job. If a boy marries earlier than this, he will have to start earning right away and will find it difficult to go to university. There are some who criticise the West for its lack of family values and to them I would say that they should look at the good things that those in the West have achieved. For instance, they have excellent medical health and their children go to school for free.
A Suhail
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2010.
