Its the year 2019, and Pakistan continues to grapple with the concept of child marriage. In fact, according to UNICEF Pakistan has the sixth highest number of absolute child brides in the world at 1,909,000. 21% of the girls in this country are married before the age of 18. Three percent are married before the age of fifteen. Still, there are many who don’t see these statistics as a problem. This Tuesday, when the National Assembly passed the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 it was opposed by several ministers who argued that raising the legal age for marriage to eighteen was against religious edicts. This included come of the usual suspects, such as members of the Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. But even the ruling party is divided on the issue. Both State Minister Ali Muhammad Khan and Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri termed the bill unIslamic. Luckily, Federal Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari opposed her fellow Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members. Even Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has come out in defence of the bill, expressing dismay that 50 elected representatives had spoken out in defence of child marriage.
That fact of the matter is this incident shows the senior party leadership has not taken a strong enough stance on the issue. Otherwise, members of the party would not have spoken out against it. The ruling party must now come out against full party with a strong and clear stance. Child marriages are a fundamental violation of human rights. The problem is a major contributor to Pakistan’s high maternal mortality rates. Younger brides also mean a higher national fertility rate, which is only exacerbating all the problems the country currently faces.
Any leader who sincerely wants to bring real positive change to the country will defend the rights of Pakistan’s women and girls. Without this, any other positive change in this country will be marginal at best. The Prime Minister must speak out in defence of the Child Marriage Restraint Act. *