The Sindh government is likely to adopt a law soon making the entry of Computerised National Identity Card numbers of the would-be married couples in their Nikahnama compulsory to prevent underage marriages in the province.
Sindh Women Development Minister Shaheena Sher Ali disclosed this while speaking as the chief guest at a seminar organised by the non-governmental organisation, Civil Society Support Programme at a hotel on the 8th of November.
The provincial minister informed the audience at the programme that the provincial government’s Women Development Department had been working on the proposal of compulsory mentioning of the CNIC numbers of the would-be couples in their Nikahnama and that the legislative process would be completed soon.
She said Sindh had taken a lead among other provinces in preventing instances of child marriages in the country by declaring 18 years as the minimum age for girls to tie the knot. She disclosed on the occasion that the minimum age for marriage in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces was still 16.
She urged the girls to duly read their Nikahnama before signing it to fully know about their marital rights. The women’s development minister said that nobody should object to the act of a bride to thoroughly go through her Nikahnama before solemnising her marriage.
She said the thought process which barred brides from reading their Nikahnama was an obsolete one, which should be changed at once for the sake of women’s rights. She informed the audience that incomplete entries in the Nikahnama due to ignorance on the part of the brides could deprive them of their legitimate rights in case of divorce or separation in their later marital life.
The provincial minister said that the Sindh Women Development Department would launch a 15-day drive from November 25 at the district-level to let females know about their due rights.
She said the government had the utmost resolve to protect the rights of women and ensure progress and financial autonomy of female population in the province as per the vision and directions from Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto.
The seminar was also attended by officials from the Sindh Human Rights Commission, Women Development Department, Information Department, and Social Welfare Department of the Sindh government.
Published in News Daily on 09-November-2024.
