[Current Affairs] November 02,2020 Top Pakistan Current Affairs for PPSC Test Preparation

3. Understanding Arzoo Raja’s child marriage case

What’s going on? The Sindh govt will approach relevant courts to review the case of a minor Christian girl who was allegedly abducted, forcibly married, and forcibly converted to Islam. Human rights groups are protesting against the underage marriage case. Activist, Jibran Nisar, is working with Arzoo Raja’s parents as their lawyer on a pro bono basis. Nisar ultimately wants Raja back with her parents, but thinks moving her to a shelter home is the next best solution while the investigation continues. Nisar claimed she is constantly at risk of being raped and sexually abused the longer she stays with her abductor in “illegal confinement.” The next hearing is on November 11.

The details: On October 13, Raja’s parents reported their daughter had gone missing from their family home in Karachi. Two days later, police said she married Ali Azhar, a 43 or 44-year-old Muslim man. Police also claimed she “willingly” converted to Islam. According to police, Azhar shared a marriage certificate, which stated Raja was 18-years-old. Now, Raja’s parents are claiming she was abducted and forced to marry Azhar, who also happens to be their neighbor. Raja’s parents tried to challenge the validity of the marriage by producing her birth certificate, which reportedly shows she is only 13.

Tell me more: The Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act states that the minimum age of marriage is 18, and child marriage is a punishable offence. However, on October 27, the Sindh High Court (SHC) cited Sharia law and ruled in favor of the marriage (i.e. under this interpretation of Sharia law, a child can apparently be married after her first menstrual period). According to the defence counsel of three suspects, who were detained for their involvement in the alleged abduction, Raja said she converted and married Azhar without any fear or pressure. The defence counsel also claimed that Raja recorded this statement in the SHC. The three suspects are police officers themselves – two of these guys are Azhar’s brothers. The three detained suspects were granted bail later on. The SHC told the police to not arrest Azhar.

The context: If you’re asking yourself ‘doesn’t Pakistan have a minimum age requirement of 18 for marriage?’ the answer is complicated. In 2014, the Sindh Assembly adopted the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act at a provincial level, which increased the minimum age of marriage to 18 years for girls and boys. The law proposed a fine and rigorous imprisonment of at least three years for men above 18 who contract a child marriage. This law also punishes whoever is involved with performing or facilitating a child marriage, including guardians. However, the national-level Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 makes the legal age of marriage 16 for girls, and 18 for boys.

Here is a timeline of proposed amendments to the nationwide Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929:

• 2014: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentarian, Marvi Memon sponsored a bill to revise the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929. The proposed amendments re-defined the meaning of a ‘child’ as someone under 18, and made child marriage a recognizable offence with tougher punishments for whoever contracts or officiates it. However, the Council of Islamic Ideology said ‘not a chance, laws related to the minimum age of marriage are against the Quran’s teachings.’ The council ruled that children of any age could get married after hitting puberty. Memon ended up withdrawing her bill in 2016 after the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Religious Affairs rejected it.

• 2017: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator, Sehar Kamran proposed an amendment to the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, which would raise the marriageable age to 18. However, the Senate Standing Committee for Interior rejected Kamran’s revised bill, calling it “un-Islamic.”

• 2018: PPP Senator Sherry Rahman introduced an amendment to the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, which proposed to raise the marriageable age to 18, and criminalize underage weddings. In 2019, the Senate passed the amended bill amid protests from members of religious parties who thought the bill was “un-Islamic.” The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party abstained from voting. However, as far as we can tell, the legislation didn’t get past the NA (P.S. info on this result is scattered, if we missed something we’ll be sure to issue a correction). 

The bottom line: Police are still investigating the case. Raja was allegedly abducted and forcibly married in Karachi. However, the SHC’s recent ruling did not take the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act into account, which would legally make her underage marriage invalid. Nisar and his team are pushing to make sure the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act is enforced properly.