ISLAMABAD: In a historical move, Pakistan's Hindu community will now have a personal law- The Hindu Marriage Bill 2017. Approved by the National Assembly on September 26, 2015, and passed last week, the bill will most likely get the President's approval next week to become a law. Once approved, the law, according to which, Hindu women will get documentary proof of their marriage, will be applicable on Pakistani Hindus in Punjab, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Presented in the Senate by Law Minister Zahid Hamid, the bill did not face any opposition or objection. It was approved by the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on January 2 with an overwhelming majority. However, Senator Mufti Abdul Sattar of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl had opposed the bill, saying the Constitution was vast enough to cater to all needs. Committee chairperson Senator Nasreen Jalil of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement said, "This was unfair. Not only against the principles of Islam but also a human rights violation that we have not been able to formulate a personal family law for the Hindus."
Supporting the bill, Senators Aitzaz Ahsan, Jehanzeb Jamaldini and Sitara Ayaz, said it was related to the marriage of Hindus living in Pakistan and had nothing to do with Muslims. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, one of the many who had been pushing for the bill, said, "Such laws will help discourage forced conversions and streamline the Hindu community after the marriage of individuals." He said it was becoming difficult for Hindu women to prove their marriage. However, several Hindu parliamentarians and members of the community had concerns over one of the clauses of the bill that deals with "annulment of marriage". The bill says that one of the partners can approach the court for separation if any of them changes the religion.
"The separation case should be filed before the conversion as it gives an option to the miscreants to kidnap a married woman, keep her under illegal custody and present her in a court saying she has converted to Islam and does not want to live with a Hindu man," Vankwani said.
