Hindu marriage bill passed in Sindh Assembly
A landmark legislation, Sindh approves bill about marriage registration of the Hindu community
(Web Desk) - A bill about the marriage (and divorce) registration of the Hindu community in Sindh has been passed on Monday in the Sindh Assembly.
Minister of Sindh’s Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmed Khuhro while moving the bill on the floor of the house stated that such a bill was being passed for the first time in the country’s history, further adding that the bill presents a proper mechanism for registering the marriages of the minority community in the province. Khuhro said that the process was being carried out with consent from the Hindu community.
National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice, headed by Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) legislator Chauhdary Mehmood Bashir Virk, took note of the bill in the previous week and gave green signal to formulate the laws concerning the registration of Hindu weddings in the country. It should be noted that resolutions affiliated with the bill have been introduced in assemblies of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan but it was Sindh Assembly that took the lead in implementing it.
According to the bill, the minimum age set for the persons to be married must be 18 years. It also stated that at least two witnesses need to be present at the time of marriage registration from both parties and that the marriage gets carried out with the approval of both parties. Each marriage needs to be registered within 45 days otherwise a fine shall be imposed on late registration.
