Rules For Hindu Marriage Act Notified By Islamabad Admin In Pak Over 5 Years After Passage

The rules for Hindu Marriage Act 2017 have been notified by the Islamabad administration allowing the members of the Hindu community to solemnise their marriage in line with their own rituals.

The Islamabad administration has notified the rules for Hindu Marriage Act 2017 after over five years of its passage, allowing the members of the minority community in Pakistan to solemnise their marriage in line with their own rituals. With this, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan can also implement the marriage act passed in 2017 instead of formulating new legislation, Pakistan-based news platform Dawn reported.

The report cited an official of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration as informing that the notification titled ‘Islamabad Capital Territory Hindu Marriage Rules 2023’ has been forwarded to all union councils of the federal territory for implementation.

As per the rules, relevant Union councils (UC) in Islamabad will register a ‘Maharaj’ to solemnise marriages. The requirement for being a ‘Pundit’ or ‘Maharaj’ is that the person needs to be a Hindu male with adequate knowledge of the religion, Dawn's report mentioned.

The ‘Maharaj’ will be appointed after he is given a character certificate from the local police and then receives the written approval of at least 10 members of the Hindu community, it stated.

Similar to the “registered nikah-khawan” for Muslims, the UCs will issue “Shaadi Pert” (marriage certificate) to ‘Maharaj’ who would be registered with them. All marriages would be registered at union councils.

As per the report, the rules say that a ‘Maharaj’ appointed under the marriage act would not take any money for officiating the marriage except for the fees mandated by the government.

In case of Maharaj’s death or cancellation of his licence, the marriage record kept by him would be submitted to the relevant UCs, which will be subsequently handed over to his successor.

Section 7 of the rules pertain to cases of termination of marriages and remarriages. Hindus living in Islamabad have been allowed to approach courts under the West Pakistan Family Courts Act 1964 in case of marriage disputes.

District Attorney For ICT Hails Notification As ‘Major Step’

Mehfooz Piracha, the district attorney for ICT who drafted the rules, told Dawn that the notification “is a major step” towards ensuring the rights of the Hindu community.

According to him, Punjab, Balochistan, and KP can also adopt these rules as “Politically and technically, it is easy for provinces to adopt the laws enacted in Islamabad rather than formulating new legislation for each jurisdiction”.

The Dawn reported that the “key effort” for the approval of Hindu marriage rules was made by a group called ‘National Lobbying Delegation for Minority Rights’ (NLD).

Jai Parkash, an NLD member, was reported saying that a large number of Hindus were permanently settled in Islamabad, and it was “essential” that the Islamabad administration implement this law retrospectively to benefit the local community.