JUST when we thought Pakistan had made meaningful progress and the debate on child marriage was nearly settled, a spanner has been thrown into the spokes of reform. Four years after the Federal Shariat Court’s ruling in 2021 that setting a minimum marriage age is not in contradiction with Islam, the debate has resurfaced. This time, it has done so with a troubling precedent set by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman — in the form of remarks that not only challenge the law, but also undermine the health, nutrition, education and mental well-being of Pakistan’s children.
He has threatened to defy the child-marriage restraint laws, which prohibit the marriage of individuals under 18, warning that he would facilitate marriages of minors as young as 10, 12, 15 and 16. Further extending the maulana’s gauntlet, Hafiz Hamdullah, another JUI-F leader, has threatened to marry a 16-year-old girl if he became ‘angry’. With more than 40 per cent of Pakistan’s population under the age of 18, personal egos and the deliberate reopening of settled issues to distract from more pressing challenges are endangering the lives and well-being of a staggering 112 million children.
It would have been far better for the people’s representatives to have shown anger and dismay at the grim realities that confront Pakistan’s children. Why didn’t they hold the state accountable for allowing 26m children — representing 38pc of school-age children between five and 16 — to be out of school, with 52pc of dropouts being girls? Many studies show that girls who marry young are far more likely to leave school and face complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
Had they highlighted that 79pc of those 38pc have never set foot in a classroom, and acknowledged that this was not only the result of structural barriers but also of deep-rooted sociocultural norms, they may have earned the public trust. They would have shown leadership by pointing out that 68pc of these 79pc children come from the poorest households, and stated it was unacceptable.
Child marriage and child nutrition are deeply intertwined. According to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18, 18.3pc of girls are married before 18, ie, nearly one in six. Of these, 3.6pc get married before 15, mainly because of cultural norms and economic pressures. One in five adolescent girls becomes pregnant soon after marriage.
Let’s not endanger the campaign against early marriage.
Would the same men want their daughters or granddaughters married early if they fully understood the consequences? What if their girls were among the 56.6pc who are anaemic? Early pregnancy can endanger the life of the mother, the baby, or both. It exposes young girls to lifelong complications such as fistula, heart disease, kidney failure, severe anaemia, or mental health conditions like postpartum depression. Would they still insist on marrying them young if they knew their newborns could be underweight and survive only to become one of the 40pc of under-five Pakistani children who are stunted, the 17.7pc who are wasted, or the 50pc suffering from micronutrient deficiencies?
Reaching Pakistan’s current position — the banning of early marriage — has been a long, arduous climb. These stark and troubling statistics have certainly led to urgent demands for legal safeguards, with some provinces taking decisive steps. With two provinces and the federal capital — Sindh, Balochistan and ICT — already equipped with the relevant legislation and the Punjab bill reportedly ready and awaiting the chief minister’s approval, only KP remains to be persuaded to follow suit.
Sindh, in a landmark move, became the first province in Pakistan to outlaw child marriage through the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013 — enforced in 2014. It set 18 as the minimum legal age of marriage, treating child marriage a cognisable, non-bailable offence in the province.
It took over a decade for momentum to return, with the federal capital and then Balochistan legislating (in May and November 2025, respectively) to set the same age of 18 years for marriage and to criminalise underage marriage and its facilitation through prison terms, fines and other penalties. This reflects the recognition that without a nationwide minimum marriage age of 18 for both girls and boys, early marriage will remain a persistent problem.
The 2021 Federal Shariat Court ruling emphasised that marriage considerations should not be limited to physical health and that economic stability, mental health and intellectual development, nurtured through education, are equally important. Let’s not jeopardise this vital campaign — let us join forces to protect and empower the next generation of mothers. Healthier, happier and educated mothers will build a stronger, resilient and unstoppable Pakistan.
Article (Opinion) Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2026.
