Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday raised the minimum legal age for marriage for Christian men and women to 18 years in the Islamic nation, after amending the law enacted in 1872. President Asif Ali Zardari accorded approval to the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act 2024 under Article 75 of the Constitution. The act amends Section 60 of the Christian Marriage Act of 1872, Geo News reported.
Under the new law, the legal age of marriage for both men and women in the Christian community is now set at 18 years. Previously, the age of Christian men and women intending to be married was 16 and 13 years respectively.
Pakistan's National Assembly unanimously approved the raising of the minimum legal age for marriage to 18 earlier this month. Addressing a special ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr after signing into law the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act 2024, President Zardari said that all minorities are equal citizens of Pakistan who have equal rights, the news channel reported, citing a press release issued by the President's Secretariat Press Wing.
Highlighting equal rights for all minorities in Pakistan, he stressed that minorities should not be disheartened by isolated incidents, saying that they had equal ownership over the homeland as much as anybody else.
The move to raise the minimum legal age for marriage for Christians was welcomed by human rights activists and various Christian organisations.
Speaking at the event at Aiwan-e-Sadr, Bishop Abraham Daniel thanked President Zardari for signing the Act into law, saying that raising the age of marriage for men and women had been a long-standing demand of the Christian community. He also thanked President Zardari for his role in his previous tenure in reserving a 5% quota for minorities in government jobs, besides allocating special seats for minorities in the Senate as well as declaring 11th August as Minorities' Day in Pakistan.
According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics in 2021, there are 96.47 per cent Muslims in the country, followed by 2.14 per cent Hindus, 1.27 per cent Christians, 0.09 per cent Ahmadi Muslims and 0.02 per cent others. The minorities are often at the receiving end due to violence by extremist groups.
However, officially Pakistan leaders have been trying to mainstream them and Army chief General Asim Munir last year attended Christmas celebrations at Christ Church in Rawalpindi and commended the role of the Christian community in the development of the country.
(With inputs from agency)
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