Lahore: The year 2023 has also passed but the laws for registration of marriage and divorce among non-Muslim minorities in Punjab could not be implemented and today even after 77 years, the Sikh, Hindu and Christian communities living in Punjab are facing problems for registration of marriage and divorce.
Nimra Gul is a resident of Baghbanpura area of Lahore, she was married to her relative Sulaiman Bhatti in November 2023. They were given a marriage certificate by the local church but their marriage has not yet been registered at the local union council.
Nimra Gul said that her husband has visited the local union council many times, but the secretary of the union council says that there is no mention of issuing marriage and divorce certificates of non-Muslim citizens in the local government rules.
A similar situation is faced by the Sikh and Hindu citizens living in Punjab. For the Christian community in Pakistan, there are Christian Marriage Act 1872 and Divorce Act 1869 in which draft bills were prepared by the federal government in 2014 for amendments.
In 2017, the Federal Ministry of Human Rights sent these two bills to the Ministry of Law for correction so that they can be presented in the Cabinet. The Christian community demanded that their marriages be registered at the Union Council level to help them prepare National Identity Cards, B forms for children and other legal documents.
In January 2019, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar issued an order to register marriages of the Christian community. Ensure registration and obligate the concerned institutions to issue marriage certificates related to the marriage of the Christian community.
There is no law with the Punjab Local Government regarding the registration of marriages and divorces of Christian communities, however, according to the order of the Supreme Court, marriage and divorce certificates are issued after registration in some union councils.
Rules of Business of Hindu Marriage Act 2017 and Sikh Marriage Act 2018 could not be made in Punjab, due to which these laws could not be implemented, however, Islamabad Capital Territory Hindu Marriage Rules 2023 have been approved in 2023.
Kanji Ram, a former member of the Punjab Assembly and a Hindu leader, while talking to Express News, said that after the approval of the Hindu Marriage Rules in Islamabad, it is hoped that the way will be paved for making the rules of the Hindu Marriage Act 2017 in Punjab.
He said that at that time, a local pandit or maharaj gives a certificate to a Hindu couple taking part in marriage and after submitting an affidavit, National Identity Card, B Form for children etc. can be made from NADRA. The Sikh community also does not have any legal document for marriage registration.
Kanji Ram also said that there is no religious concept of divorce in Hinduism, but if the husband and wife want to separate from each other, then the divorce is done by the court. In the Sikh and Christian communities, the judicial process is also adopted for divorce.
Speaking to Express News, Peter Jacob, a human rights activist and founder of the Center for Social Justice, a research organization working on the rights of religious minorities, said that there is still no provision for many minorities, including Bahais, Kailashis and Parsis. There are no family laws.
He said that it is the responsibility of the government to make laws according to the equal rights of men and women, keeping in mind the local objective conditions and international laws. A 100% consensus on creating rules of business may never be possible.
He also said that the Provincial Department of Human Rights and Minority Affairs was responsible for preparing the rules of business of the Christian, Sikh and Hindu Marriage Acts which were passed at different times, but the performance of this department is underwhelming.
Former Parliamentary Secretary for Human Rights and Minority Affairs Punjab Assembly, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora says that he had approved the Sikh Marriage Act, which is called Anandkarj, in the assembly in 2018, but since the elections were held in the same year and a new government was in place, this act was passed. Rolls could not be made.
It was the responsibility of the government formed in 2018 to make the rules of business for the Sikh Marriage Act which was passed by the assembly, but as the credit should go to him and his party (PML-N), the PTI government Deliberately postponed it, in the name of amendments, it was brought back to the assembly and approved, but the rules of business could not be made in four years.
According to the officials of the Provincial Department of Human Rights and Minority Affairs, the rules of business that were made in the past were objected to by the representatives of different communities, due to which no consensus could be reached. But the work in this regard is still going on.
After the approval of the Rules of Business, Pastors and Bishops for the Christian community, Granthis for the Sikh community and Pandits and Maharajs for the Hindu community will be registered across Punjab. They will be registered like Muslim marriage seekers and marriages solemnized by them will be registered in the Union Council.
However, the Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company (PMDFC) has contacted the Ministry of Minority Communities, Ministry of Human Rights and Minority Affairs to provide constitutional and technical support to the Punjab Local Government for legislation related to marriage and divorce registration of German non-Muslim communities. After discussing with the representatives of
PMDFC General Manager Mehmood Masood Tamanna while talking to Express News said that they have prepared two volumes of proposals. In the first volume, the proposals of the representatives of the Sikh, Christian and Hindu community have been focused on the current procedures of marriage and divorce, while in the second volume, the judicial decisions related to the marriages and divorces of minorities and the procedures practiced in different countries of the world have been mentioned. Is.
Mahmood Masood Tamna says that a draft of the bylaws has been prepared in collaboration with the provincial department of human rights and minority affairs, which will be sent to the local government, and then the local government, which is the competent authority, will approve this draft from the incoming government. will be done and then it will become a law.
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