Landmark legislation

The Senate passed “The Hindu Marriage Bill, 2016”. Moved by Law Minister Zahid Hamid, the bill provides for solemnisation of marriages by Hindu families.The minister said the bill will institutionalise marriages of the Hindu community. He said there was no documentation previously in this regard. He pointed out that the bill has full backing of the Hindu community, members of the National Assembly and other forums concerned.The bill will mainly help Hindu women get documentary proof of their marriage. It will be the first personal law for Pakistani Hindus, applicable in Punjab, Balo­chis­tan and Khyber Pakhtun­khwa. Sindh has already formulated its own Hindu marriage law.The bill was approved by the Senate Functional Com­mittee on Human Rights on Jan 2 with an overwhelming majority. Senators Aitzaz Ahsan, Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini and Sitara Ayaz, while supporting the bill, had said it related to the marriage of Hindus living in Pakistan and had nothing to do with Muslims.Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, who had been working relentlessly for three years to have a Hindu marriage law in the country, expressed gratitude to the parliamentarians.The law paves the way for a document ‘Shadi Parath’ – similar to Nikahnama for Muslims – to be signed by a pundit and registered with the relevant government department.However, the Hindu parliamentarians and members of the community had concerns over one of the clauses of the bill that deals with ‘annulment of marriage’. It states that one of the partners can approach the court for separation if anyone of them changes the religion.Dr Vankwani said that what they demanded that the separation case should be filed before the conversion as it has given an option to the miscreants to kidnap a married woman, keep her under illegal custody and present her in a court that she has converted to Islam and does not want to live with a Hindu man.However, the bill is widely acceptable for Hindus living in Pakistan because it relates to marriage, registration of marriage, separation and remarriage, with the minimum age of marriage set at 18 years for both boys and girls.The first of its kind at the national level, the law will enable the Hindu population whose count is believed to be over two million to properly register their marriages and separations. The bill will be applicable in Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as Sindh had already passed its own bill pertaining to the matters of Hindu community.Indeed, the bill is being seen a positive development and a step in the right direction to address most of the reservations of the Hindus. Because of the nature of the bill, no party in the Senate opposed passage of the bill, reflecting that everybody desires the minority enjoy their due status and rights in the country. Before this bill it was difficult for married Hindu women to prove that they were married. Now the law paves the way for a document similar to Nikah Nama to be signed by a pundit and registered with relevant government department. The government should ensure implementation of the law in letter and in spirit to facilitate Hindus community.