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| September 29, 2006 | Friday | Ramazan 5, 1427 |
UK wants end to menace of forced marriage
ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: British High Commissioner Mark-Lyall Grant has stressed the need to wage struggle against such trends in the society which make religion a base and a justification for forced marriages.
He was speaking at a debate on forced marriages in the auditorium of National Insurance Company. The high commissioner said forced marriages should be discouraged as these were not permitted by any religion or the society.
Mr Grant said the British High Commission had to handle a lot of issues related to forced marriages. He said many of the forced marriages were aimed at getting citizenship. The commission has established a working relationship with civil society organisations to raise awareness of such issues, he added.
Taking part in the debate, women rights activist and National Commission on the Status of Women Chairperson Syeda Arifa Zehra said forced marriages were very common. According to her, no religion or society permits use of force in choosing life partner. She said all such obsolete customs and traditions should be abolished which discriminated against a man or a woman in the matters of marriage.
Council of Islamic Ideology Chairman Khalid Masood said matters like forced marriages were social issues and should not be linked to religion. He said parents had no right to compel their daughters/sons to marry against their choice. However, parents can take a decision in this and seek the consent of their children later on, he said, adding that if the latter agreed to it then it should not be considered forced. He said they were not opposed to arranged marriages.
Being a contract, marriage is characterised by the consensus of both parties as viewed in Islam, the participants observed. However, many ill-practices had developed an environment where youth are forced to marry without his/her free will, they said, adding that the consequences of such type of marriages were dangerous i.e. domestic violence, increasing divorce ratio, honour killing, marital mal-adjustments and family break-ups.
On the occasion, a play, titled ‘The right to choose’, was enacted. highlighting the ordeal of a girl when she is forced to marry.
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