Pak Senate to discuss annulment clause in Hindu Marriage Bill

In a groundbreaking verdict in Hindu marriage law in Pakistan, the Sindh Assembly passed the Hindu Marriage Bill 2015, becoming the first provincial legislature in Pakistan to formalise the recognition of Hindu, Sikh and Jain minorities.

A parliamentary body cleared the Hindu Marriage Bill last week, paving way for regulations on registration of marriage and divorce for the Hindu community in Pakistan. “The decision has been taken to provide a mechanism for formally registering Hindu marriages in Sindh”.

The bill also states that every marriage being solemnised under this act would be registered with the union council/ ward within 45 days of the solemnisation.

A leading Hindu group in Pakistan has demanded the government to remove a controversial clause in the draft Hindu Marriage Bill that calls for annulment of marriage if any of the spouses converts their religion, saying it can trigger forced conversions of minority community women.

For one, the draft legislation has yet to be adopted by the National Assembly.

Non-Muslims make up only about three percent of the 190 million population of Pakistan, which was founded as a haven for the sub-continent’s Muslims on independence from the British in 1947 with a promise of religious freedom to minorities.

Senior PPP leader and Sindh Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmad Khuhro moved the bill in the provincial assembly, which was later passed after a debate between the opposition and treasury benches.

The law also comes amid growing violence against Pakistan’s minorities. Women, in particular widows, were especially disadvantaged when it came to getting government documents issued or getting any progress done on processes like opening bank accounts or applying for visas.

It also states that neither of the parties should have an existing spouse at the time of marriage.

They say that the provision is an invitation to conversion; worse, it can be misused to perpetrate forced conversions of married Hindus, just as many unwed Hindu girls have been compelled to embrace Islam.

He referred to the kidnapping of teenage Hindu girls who were then presented them in courts with a certificate that she had married after converting to Islam. Some Hindus have fled to India in recent years citing discrimination and religious persecution.

Ramesh Vankwani, patron in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council, said the Hindu community in the country was concerned about the clause.