Pakistan MPs to discuss clause in Hindu Marriage Bill

Pakistan’s Senate will discuss a controversial clause in the landmark Hindu Marriage Bill that calls for the annulment of a marriage if any of the spouses converts to another religion, after unanimously passing the law recently.

The National Assembly committee on law and justice last week approved the draft law on Hindu marriages, paving the way for registering marriages in the minuscule religious minority of Pakistan following decades of delay and inaction.

The chairperson of the standing committee on law and justice, Senator Nasreen Jalil, has called a meeting of the committee this week to take up the matter.

The Hindu Marriage Bill clause 12(iii) says, a marriage will be annulled if any of the spouses converts to another religion.

Ms Jalil said some opposed the clause while others supported it.

“If there is a consensus on deletion of the clause the committee will forward its recommendations to the Speaker of National Assembly,” the Dawn newspaper quoted her as saying.