Voice for reforms: Peoples against child marriage in Pakistan

Social activists in Pakistan demand to end child marriages. The ratio of child marriage in Pakistan was estimated to be around 24 per cent, however, in Sindh the ratio was around 70 per cent, said civil society activists on August 20.

Child marriage in Pakistan is connected with tradition, culture, and customary practices. It sometimes involves the transfer of money, settlement of debts or exchange of daughters (Vani / Swara or Watta Satta) sanctioned by a Jirga or Panchayat (council of elders from the community).

Pakistan’s Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA) 1929 sets the legal age for marriage to 16 for women and 18 for men.

In May 2017, the National Assembly rejected the draft Child Marriage Restraint Act for the second time. The proposal would have increased the legal age for marriage from 16 to 18 nationwide.

In February 2017, the Parliament adopted an amendment to the Penal Code that would toughen punishment against child marriage. Offenders face a minimum of five years in prison and may serve up to 10 years. They also face a fine of up to 1 million rupees ($9,547).

In April 2014, the Sindh Assembly unanimously adopted the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, increasing the minimum age of marriage to 18 and making marriage below 18 a punishable offence. A proposed similar nationwide bill was unfortunately struck down by Pakistan’s National Assembly in 2014.

In Punjab, a Bill introducing harsher penalties for marriage under the age of 16 was also adopted. However, it does not increase the age of marriage to 18.

But The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) ruling that the laws related to minimum age of marriage were un-Islamic and that children of any age could get married if they attain puberty.

Council of Islamic Ideology is a constitutional body of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, responsible for giving legal advice on Islamic issues to the government and the Parliament. The body was founded in 1962 under the government of Ayub Khan. However, the Government can make a law before advice is furnished by the council. The council is also responsible for submitting an annual interim report, which is discussed in the Parliament and Provincial Assemblies within six months of its receipt. Recently, the Council was strongly criticized in many traditionalist quarters for its recommendations on the procedure for khula.