ISLAMABAD: Marred by controversies and political opposition, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice once again deferred the approval of the proposed Hindu Marriage Act 2015 on the request of the Hindu lawmakers on Monday.

“We all request the committee not to discuss the draft bill now and delay it for just one month. In the meanwhile, I will try to get a resolution from Sindh so that the law is applicable for the whole country,” MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani of the ruling PML-N said.

His request confused the chairman of the committee, Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk, who sought an explanation from Dr Vankwani as why did he want the committee not to approve the draft law.

The committee was informed by the Hindu MNAs that the marriage law was required for the whole country but if the draft law was approved by the parliament, it would only be applicable in Islamabad.

“After the 18th Amendment, marriage and divorce are the functions of provinces and we need to get approval from four provinces so that the same law is applied to the whole country,” Dr Vankwani said.

An official from the law ministry told the committee that the Sindh government had serious reservations and did not want to hand over the power to make the Hindu marriage law to the centre.

“Similar objections were made by the KP government but now they have agreed to table a resolution granting the federal government the right to formulate a law on their behalf. A resolution in this regard is already in the Balochistan assembly,” the official said.

The chairman of the committee asked Ayaz Soomro, PPPP MNA from Sindh, why there was no cooperation from the Sindh government in this regard.

Mr Soomro replied that it must have been some internal issue of the Hindu community because a bill against forced conversion and related marriage issues had been tabled in the Sindh assembly.

“But I do not know why things are being delayed. I have talked to the chief minister Sindh who also had no answer,” Mr Soomro said. “But I want the Hindu community members to be more serious and shun their political or internal differences.”

Since there is no legal platform for the registration of marriages in the Hindu community, getting a legal proof of their marriage becomes difficult, especially for obtaining legal documents like CNICs and passports.

Currently, the certificate issued by the Pakistan Hindu Council is recognised by Nadra for the issuance of CNICs and passports.

“But the main problem is that the Pakistan Hindu Council has its limitations and cannot work all over the country,” Dr Vankwani said.

The first draft was a private member bill by Ramesh Lal of the PPP and Dr Darshan of the PML-N in March 2014. Later, the government adopted the bill after which it became a government-sponsored draft bill early this year.

The committee also approved an amendment to the law that called for the right to appeal against judgments in suo motu cases.

“This is a basic violation of human rights, the accused is practically unheard and they only have the right for the review,” said Ayaz Soomro, the mover of the amendment.

Read more: Parliamentary committee to take up Hindu marriage bills

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2015

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