First Kalash Marriage Bill cleared bylaw department

Legislation aims to protect and formalise marital customs of community

PESHAWAR:

In a landmark step toward preserving cultural heritage, Pakistan's first indigenous Kalash Marriage Bill has successfully passed vetting by the Law Department and will soon be presented to the cabinet before being tabled in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Legislative Assembly.

This historic legislation aims to protect and formalize the unique marital customs of the Kalash community, ensuring their traditions are legally recognized while promoting cultural rights.

This disclosure was made by Qamar Naseem, Programme Manager Blue Veins organization during annual consultative workshop for CSO Support group here Monday.

The CSO Support group has been formed by Blue Veins under its initiative of `Faith in Action for Equal Rights and Opportunities' having three components including Kalash Marriage Bill, Implementation of two percent admission quota for Minorities in public sector universities and strengthening implementation of the Code of Conduct to counter hate speech and harmful content.

Qamar explained to the participants that the Kalash Marriage Bill had been drafted with considerable effort, as there was no written record of the community's religious traditions. The bill aimed to protect and preserve these customs, ensuring they remained intact after the legislation's passage.

"Once enacted, it will mark a significant milestone in Pakistan's efforts to safeguard minority communities and their ancestral practices," he remarked.

The draft legislation has obtained approval from Law department and will now be forwarded for presentation in cabinet meeting for review, he added. About admission quota, the meeting was informed that out of 34 public sector universities in KP, about 27 have showed compliance by properly displaying announcement about minority quota on websites.