THE passage of a new law criminalising child marriage within the confines of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) might be celebrated as a reform, but the reality is that for a large number of young girls, it is a promise that will never reach their homes or their lives. This is all about making headlines.

For generations, young girls have been wedded off under the weight of custom, poverty and silence. Laws have come and gone. Childhoods, once lost, have not. The bill is a praiseworthy step, but applause alone will not shield a 13-year-old from a forced marriage. A piece of legislation, however progressive, is only as powerful as its enforcement. And that is where Pakistan has failed time and again.

We are not short of good laws. We are a country overflowing with statutes and bills. However, putting those laws into action is a different story. Laws would continue to sit idle, while girls would be dragged into marriages they neither understand nor consent to.

Visit any underprivileged settlement, and you will not find the absence of legal text; you will find the absence of the state. Child marriage in Pakistan is an everyday tragedy.

It is an act of violence wrapped in customs. A girl in a bridal dress before she has finished school is a girl forced into adult roles. Child marriage intensifies poverty, increases maternal mortality, causes educational dropout, and further entrenches gender inequality.

The recent piece of legislation, in any case, is limited to ICT. When will we have something applicable to the whole country? Who will enforce this law in remote villages and informal settlements? Who will challenge those who conduct child marriages in defiance of the state? What protection exists for those who dare to report these abuses? And, when the law is opposed by the clergy, will the state hold its ground?

The state must speak loudly, clearly and unapologetically that a girl is not a bride; not until she chooses when she is legally, mentally, physically as well as emotionally ready. Let this law not become another framed certificate of intent; let it become the first real sign of action.

Muhammad Shahjahan Memon
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2025