The Pakistan senate has passed the landmark Hindu Marriage Bill 2017, Dawn reported.
It will be the first comprehensive personal law applicable for the Hindu community in the country.
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.
It will be applicable in Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Sindh has already formulated its own Hindu marriage law.
The bill is likely to get presidential assent next week to become a law.
Pakistan Law Minister Zahid Hamid presented the bill in the senate on Saturday.
While approving the bill, committee chairperson senator Nasreen Jalil of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had announced: “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 of Pakistan.”
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.
“Such laws will help discourage forced conversions and streamline the Hindu community after the marriage of individuals,” he said, adding that it was difficult for married Hindu women to prove that they were married, which was one of the key tools for miscreants involved in forced conversion.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
