Pakistan on Tuesday amended an 1872 law, raising the minimum marriage age for Christian men and women in the Muslim country to 18.
President Asif Ali Zardari, under Article 75 of the Constitution, has given his approval to the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act, 2024. According to a Geo News report, the Act amends Section 60 of the Christian Marriage Act, 1872.
Under the new law, the legal age for marriage for both Christian men and women is now 18. Previously, the legal age for Christian men and women wanting to marry was 16 and 13, respectively.
Pakistan’s parliament unanimously approved raising the minimum age for marriage to 18 earlier this month.
Speaking at a special ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr after signing the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act, 2024, President Zardari said all minorities are equal citizens of Pakistan with equal rights, the news channel reported citing a press release issued by the Press Cell of the Presidential Secretariat.
He stressed on equal rights for all minorities in Pakistan and stressed that minorities should not be discouraged by isolated incidents as they have equal ownership over their homeland just like anyone else.
The move to raise the minimum marriage age for Christians was welcomed by human rights activists and various Christian organisations.
Speaking at an event in Aiwan-e-Sadr, Bishop Abraham Daniel said raising the marriage age for men and women was a long-standing demand of the Christian community and expressed gratitude to President Zardari for signing the bill.
He also thanked President Zardari for allocating five percent of government jobs to minorities during his previous term, allocating special seats for minorities in the Senate and declaring August 11 as Minorities Day in Pakistan.
According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics for 2021, the country is made up of 96.47 percent Muslims, 2.14 percent Hindus, 1.27 percent Christians, 0.09 percent Ahmadi Muslims and 0.02 percent others.
Minorities are often victims of violence perpetrated by extremist groups.
But Pakistan’s leaders have officially sought to mainstream them, and last year Army Chief General Asim Munir attended Christmas celebrations at a Christian church in Rawalpindi and praised the Christian community’s role in the country’s development.
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