Minorities and marriage

The speedy passage of Hindu Marriage Registration Act of 2014 bill would solve many problems at a single stroke,

Marriage for non-Muslims in Pakistan is sometimes far from straightforward in purely legal terms, and for Hindus in particular getting married or providing proof of marriage is particularly difficult. Legislation does exist for other minorities but for Hindus, there is none. At Partition, Pakistan inherited the laws of the former colonial rulers, and many were re-enacted, including those relating to marriage. Some were left untouched and are extant today and used by the Hindu community. The Special Marriage Act of 1872 is available for Hindus to register marriages under, but that is rarely implemented. The marriage laws for Muslims were revised and updated as long ago as 1961 with the Muslim Family Law Ordinance.

Pakistan has not enacted any law to regulate the marriage and divorce of Hindus. This is a significant difficulty particularly when it comes to divorce and inheritance or the custody of children. There have been several attempts in recent years to regularise marital arrangements of Hindus, the most recent being the Hindu Marriage Registration Act of 2014, which is also aimed at the prohibition of forced conversions that have become a matter of concern of late. Sadly, this bill is still pending. The Hindu community now hangs in a legal limbo. No marriage registration document is issued relative to their marriages by the government and it is a virtual impossibility for Hindus to prove before any court that they are married. As for the dissolution of marriage, there is further complexity. Judicial separation is an imperfect definition of the dissolution of marriage. Further complexity arises from Sindh-specific legislation that restricts marriage to 18 years and above — legislation that is widely flouted in all communities — but it means that any underage marriage contracted in the Hindu community cannot be annulled. The speedy passage of the pending bill would solve many problems at a single stroke, which we strongly urge. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th,  2014.

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