Daily Times

QUETTA: Members of the Balochistan Assembly, representatives of political and social organizations, and civil society have called for constituting a special committee on “Child marriage” for developing a consensus among all stakeholders.

The suggestion for creating consensus came during a conference organized by the Education and Youth Empowerment Society and Girls not Bride here at local hotel of Quetta on Wednesday.

Parliamentary Secretary Science and Technology Law and Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Rubaba Khan Buledi, Parliamentary Secretary Women Development Department Mahjabeen Sheeran, Chairperson of Commission on Status of Women Balochistan Fauzia Shaheen, Former MPA of Pashtokhwa Milli Awami Party Arifah Sadiq Advocate, Former PMA Dr. Shama Ishaq, MPA Shakeela Naveed Dehwar, Zeenat Shahwani, Secretary Social Welfare Abdul Laif Kakar, Shahida Habib Alizai, Leader of People’s Party Sana Durrani, Central Vice President of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists Saleem Shahid, BNP Awami Central leaders Dr. Nashanas Lehri, Sami Shariq, Mir Bahram Lehri, and Mir Behram Baloch addressed the gathering.

Speakers of the conference expressed concern over the delay in the approval of the proposed child marriage bill and suggested constituting a special committee for developing consensus among all political parties and stakeholders. They said that effective legislation for child marriage is the need of the hour, adding that child marriage is not only harmful to the health of the mother and child but also causes serious social and psychological problems.

“Due to the lack of consensus among the political parties, it has been suggested to send this bill to the Islamic Ideological Council, so it is necessary to include all the stakeholders including the members of the assembly society in order to establish a consensus among all the political parties on the important issue,” they added. A committee should be formed to convince the opponents of this law with arguments and also to defend this bill in the Council of Islamic Ideology.

The speakers said that practical progress on the early marriage bill is inevitable. Parliamentary Secretary Science and Technology Law and Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Rubaba Khan Buledi on the occasion said that there is a consensus among all women members of the assembly on laws related to public interest, including women’s rights, but it is necessary to approve the laws.

She said that the Women Parliamentarian CAUCUS is serious about the formulation and approval of laws related to women’s rights, including child marriage, and we are determined to give consensus to all pending drafts.