ISLAMABAD: The government was criticised on Thursday for delaying formulation of the upgraded Christian marriage and divorce law.

Members of the Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities said that women and children suffered most due to absence of upgraded Christian family laws, and the government was not moving ahead to forward draft of the new law - which replaces the 150-year-old Christian personal law - to the parliament.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club (NPC), members of the National Lobbying Delegation (NLD) for Minority Rights urged the federal government to finalise the Christian Marriage and Divorce Act 2021, as early as possible.

Speaking on behalf of the whole group, Advocate Atif Jameel, Educationist Dr Sabir Michael and Civil Rights Activist Romana Bashir said that draft of the new bill had been with the Ministry of Law and Justice for more than 22 months.

Ms Bashir pointed out that the federal cabinet in Aug 20, 2019, approved the draft bill titled Christian Marriage and Divorce Act 2019 which was prepared after consultations with mainline churches in Pakistan by the Ministry of Human Rights.

“But it will be two years next month and the draft bill is still lying in the law ministry,” she said.

As per the official requirement, the draft was forwarded to the Ministry of Law and Justice for vetting and its formation. Responding to the query about why the bill had been in the law ministry for so long, Dr Sabir Michael said that the ministry was holding consultations with members of the Christian community, but this process too should be completed at some time.

There were around 150 rounds of consultations conducted by the Ministry of Human Rights with various churches and elders of the Christian community before finalising the draft.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2021