Support Pakistani Hindu Marriage Registration Laws

Pakistani Hindus are 4.5 million, a large minority, being long term inhabitants (for hundreds years).

In Pakistan almost all the religious communities have their respective marriages registration rules and certificate of marriages for married couples, except Hindu community. For Muslims, in the year of 1961-62 laws and rules were framed to register the Muslim marriages. According to these regulations a Muslim marriage is registered with an officially appointed person, which is called “Nikah-Khawan” in vernacular language. The official is duly appointed by the government, with a license to issue certificate of marriage that is “Nikah-Naama”. The certificate is a recognized deed with presumption that the marriage is consummated and performed legally, in accordance with law. The document is acceptable to all government and private departments.

The courts of the land are also bound to give presumption of truth to the certificate of the marriage, meaning there by, that the persons are legally husband and wife. Same is the case with Pakistani Christians, Parsis, Sikhs and other minorities. Why not Pakistani Hindus? The Question is substantial.

The Pakistani Hindu couples face lots of problems due to non availability of their certificate of marriages.

1. The couples are without legal entity and proof of their spouse ship.

2. The acknowledgement of their matrimonial relationship is at the sweet will of concerned authorities or departments in Pakistan, whether the officials recognize them as husband and wife or otherwise.

3. For the preparation of necessary documents like National Identity Card, Domicile, Passports and other documents the marital status of the applicant is mandatory. Questions and required answers like; whether one is married or bachelor? If married, the name of spouse? Proof of marriage? Any certificate of marriage? Identity of the spouse with documents?-----are always problematic for the Hindu married applicants. At the moment the couples are helpless, at the mercy and grace of those officials. Here the couples may be refused or graced to be awarded with the document. The non availability of the marriage certificate, sometime, begets corruption syndrome.

4. Sometimes, in court cases husband, refuses to recognize the other partner as his/her better half to avoid financial liability of wife and kids. Even in a number of cases the parentage ship of the children were denied by the father. In this situation the lady wife is in predicament to prove her wife ship or/and parentage ship of her minor children, as she has no document, at all, to prove her version.

5. During travelling on their way, on public places, hotels & motels, especially on police checking, the Hindu couples are in miserable position to prove them to be the husband and wife. Because on a number of occasions the proof of husband and wife is mandatory requirement.

6. Likewise in civil, family and criminal matters in the society, law enforcement agencies and courts, the Hindu couples faces a lot of problems.

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/7118/can-you-prove-your-marriage-not-if-you-are-hindu/