By Khawar Ghumman
Saturday, 27 Feb, 2010
“We have already held three meetings with representatives of these minorities and hopefully the bill would be presented before the National Assembly within the next three months,” said Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti.
ISLAMABAD: More than two million Hindus living in Pakistan are following their customary laws in contracting marriages without any registration and legal recourse for either partner in case of problems.
Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti informed the National Assembly on Friday that the government was yet to promulgate the Hindu Marriage Act because the Hindu community was still following centuries-old traditions while solemnising marriages.
In response to a question raised by Ms Parveen Massod Bhatti, he said that marriages of Hindus were not registered. However, he said, the ministry had initiated a consultation process to come up with a legislation.
Talking to Dawn, Mr Bhatti said the government was working on a Minority Protection Bill for different minorities across the country. The Hindu, Sikh and Bahai communities, he said, had been demanding separate marriage law and the matter would be addressed in the forthcoming bill.
“We have already held three meetings with representatives of these minorities and hopefully the bill would be presented before the National Assembly within the next three months,” the minister said.
No comments:
Post a Comment