Non-Muslim marriage bill: Draft law presented for public debate

Minorities' leaders, civil society discuss pro's and con's of proposed law

KARACHI: After various consultations with minority representatives in Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar and Umerkot districts, an initial draft for the non-Muslim marriage bill is ready to be proposed in the provincial assembly.

The rough draft has been prepared by the Sindh Rural Partners Organization (SRPO) in collaboration with Enhanced Democratic Accountability and Civic Engagements and was presented to non-Muslim community leaders and parliamentarians at an event held at a private hotel on Tuesday.



"We have given legal awareness to locals of the three districts and informed them of their rights," said SRPO executive director Zahida Detho while addressing members of Hindu and Christian communities and civil society representatives. "The bill is for all the non-Muslim communities living in Pakistan," she added.



Minorities are the ignored section of society and it is necessary to make a bill for the registration of their marriages and divorces, she added, explaining how difficult it is for uneducated Hindus to register their marriages.

The presenter of the draft, Zubair Abro, while explaining the bill's main points, said they concluded from a survey that there should be a common law for all non-Muslims which does not touch any part of their religious rituals. "The main problem which they face is of registration," he pointed out.

Referring to the current laws, Abro said all of them were made before the inception of Pakistan. "There is a dire need to register their [non-Muslims'] marriages, as it will eventually help stop forced conversions of married women," he added.

Adding the age factor into the bill, he mentioned that the age of both the parties should be a minimum of 18 years and there should be free consent on marriage. Making it easy and accessible for the people to register their marriages, he suggested that the government shall appoint a marriage registrar in each union council to only facilitate non-Muslims.

"The functions of the marriage registrar will be to issue a certificate of marriage and provide information of the couple to NADRA," he read out from the draft. The draft also focuses on penalties on different frauds and impersonating cases.

Furthermore, the draft also highlights the causes and objectives of marriage, legitimacy of children, divorce and judicial separation.

Muqeema Bheel, a mother of eight from Mirpurkhas, lamented that "instead of spending money on debates and consultations, they should spend on education and health facilities."

Describing local issues, she revealed that girls in her village are unaware of their date of birth so how can they follow the rule of getting married after turning 18.

Jaipal Chhabria, from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said before moving towards making a new bill, one should read India's marriage laws. "Studying Christian laws and Indian laws on marriage will help us form a better and workable bill in Pakistan," he commented.

Highlighting weak areas of the present draft, a Christian community representative pointed out that no bill should be passed without discussing and debating the topic of various religious scholars to understand the structure of a specific religion whether it be Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism or Sikhism.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th,  2015.