Hindu Marriage Bill 2016 in Pakistan

Pakistan approves Hindu Marriage Bill

Question: Consider the following statements in the context of Pakistan and choose the
Correct answer from the options given below:-
1. Sindh is first province of Pakistan, where the minority Hindu community may register their marriages.
2. In September 2016, the Natio¬nal Assembly of Pakistan had passed the Hindu Marriage Bill 2016.
3. Hindu Marriage Bill 2016 was passed by the Senate, the upper house of the Pakistan’s Parliament on 1 January 2017.

(a) Both (1) and(2) are true
(b) Both (1) and(3) are true
(c) Both (2) and(3) are true
(d) All the statements are true
Ans: (a)
Related facts:

  • On 2 January 2017; Senate Functional Committee on Minority’s Human Rights unanimously approved the much-awaited Hindu Marriages Bill 2016.
  • The Hindu Marriage Bill 2016 will become a law after it will be passed by the Senate, the upper house of the Parliament.
  • The Senate committee under the chair of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Senator Nasreen Jalil took up the bill for discussion and later approved it.
  • The bill will enable the Hindu community to get their marriages registered and to appeal in courts of law in cases of separation.
    There are penalties for violating the provisions of the bill.
  • It also allows Hindus to finally have a proof of marriage document called the shadiparat, similar to the nikahnama for Muslims.
    The bill also allows separated Hindu persons to remarry.
  • Clause 17 of the bill states that a Hindu widow “shall have the right to re-marry of her own will and consent after the death of her husband provided a period of six months has lapsed after the husband’s death”.
  • The bill will be applicable to all Pakistan except Sindh province which on 15 February 2016 separately adopted its own Hindu marriage law.
  • Hindus make up approximately 1.6 per cent of Pakistan’s Muslim-majority 190 million population and they are mainly in Sindh province.

Reference:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pakistan-approves-hindu-marriage-bill/article8213284.ece
http://www.dawn.com/news/1305970
http://www.na.gov.pk/uploads/documents/1393931873_197.pdf
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/Pakistan%E2%80%99s-landmark-Hindu-marriage-bill-inches-closer-to-enactment/article16978339.ece