Daily Times

Sir: Women’s Action Forum (WAF) upholds every adult Pakistani’s constitutional right to contract and/or terminate marriage by her/his free will and without pressure, force or coercion of any sort. In cases of inter-faith marriages, WAF condemns the use of force or coercion against the prospective couple towards conversion to another faith, as a pre-condition to marriage.

Also, WAF calls upon all state parties and members of the communities involved to recognize and extend the right to the wife/husband to revert back to their original faith if s/he should wish to, at any stage. The choice to marry (or not) must be a consensual and autonomous decision, as must be the practice of faith. It is an abrogation of basic human rights to use the exercise of choice in these personal matters as tools of political leverage by any ethnic or religious community.

Women’s Action Forum,

Karachi