IT speaks volumes for our regressive social fabric that humane points of view that come naturally to so many other countries, and are too obvious to be uttered, must here be held up for appreciation.

Into this category falls, for instance, the few voices that speak up in favour of vaccination against polio, and girls’ education.

Another example of this was provided by the director general of the Council of Islamic Ideology on Thursday when, in an interaction with the media in Islamabad, he voiced the opinion that children should not be married until they reach “mental maturity”.

On an earlier occasion, this public servant surprised many by presenting relatively reasonable views on topics that the CII in general tends to see in a very conservative light.

Let it not be forgotten, after all, that in 2013, the CII left many astonished when it said that DNA testing could not be used as primary evidence to establish rape.

That pronouncement led many to challenge the very raison d’être of the CII. It was pointed out that the social and political fabric of the country has changed in fundamental ways since the body was first formed in the 1960s.

It then went through a change of nomenclature in the 1973 Constitution where it was tasked with advising legislatures on whether or not a law runs contrary to Islamic ideals.

This argument deserves to be highlighted again. The CII has only an advisory role, but the nature of its constitution, as well as its input in earlier decades, means that its pronouncements attain a degree of moral authority that really should not be required in a country where hundreds of elected lawmakers are available in the federal and provincial legislatures.

The latter are perfectly capable of deciding on any issue. In terms of the marriage of minors, for instance, the Sindh Assembly passed the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2013, which makes it illegal for anyone under 18 to marry, and also provides for the penalising of parents and facilitators of such unions.

Earlier this month, the Punjab Assembly approved a bill proposing amendments to the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, which provides stricter penalties for parents and clerics facilitating underage marriages. Such are the legislative successes that need to be built upon, and for which strict implementing mechanisms need to be devised. The views of the CII should not be required at all.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2015

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