Pak House committee fails to approve Hindu marriage law

Islamabad, July 6

The minority Hindu community in Pakistan will have to wait more before they can register their marriages as the lawmakers today deferred till July 13 the final approval of the Islamic country's first Hindu marriage law.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights headed by Chaudhry Muhammad Bashir Virk met here to discuss and finalise a set of laws to formalise and 

facilitate registration of Hindu marriages.

An official said that the committee deferred the approval till July 13 when it is expected to approve a final draft of 'The Hindu Marriage Bill, 2015' and 'The Hindu Marriage Bill, 2014'. The minority Hindu community in Pakistan has been living without a marriage law since the country was founded in 1947.

The Hindus, who constitute 1.6 per cent of the Pakistan’s total population, have been struggling to get a specific law for the past 67 years to get their marriages legalised and registered.

The Bill was jointly presented in parliament last year by Ramesh Lal of Opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Darshan of ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), while a separate but similar government bill has been tabled in parliament by Law Minister Pervaiz Rashid in March this year.

The two Bills will establish rules and regulation for registration of marriage and divorce for Pakistani Hindus. At present, Hindus in the country do not even have a legal document as proof of their marriages. — PTI