Daily Times

Twenty-seven-year-old Lakshmi Bai, married for four years, lives with her parents. Belonging to Chhor, in the district of Umerkot, in Sindh province, in 2018, Bai then 23, was married to Raj Kumar, 30, a software engineer from a neighboring village of Dhoronaro who was working in the Netherlands.

Within a few months of marriage, Kumar went back to the Netherlands and broke all ties with Bai who had returned to her parent’s home. “There was a wedding in my village which my in-laws wanted to attend and insisted I come along. They told me to pack my things. It was a one-way journey and I never went back to my husband’s home,” said Bai.
“They wanted to get rid of me so that their son could marry or spend the rest of his life with a girl of his choice,” said Lakshmi. “They left me at the home where the wedding was taking place, while I was asleep and went back to their village. When my mother came to see me the next day I found out my in-laws had just come to drop me,” narrated Bai.

“I tried to contact my husband, but he never responded. He did not even think about the manner in which he broke all ties with me or how it would look for my parents. Everyone was staring at me, as my mother took me back from the wedding. She was holding my hand and hugging me tight, but I felt completely humiliated,” said Bai.

A couple of months later, after the intervention of Bai’s elders, Kumar’s father agreed to hold a sitting with her family but remained absent on the said date. Instead, they started spreading rumors about my character,” said Bai.

Bai’s older brother, Bhawani wanted to take up the matter to the court, but community elders and close relatives advised against taking that step. Bai did not have a national identity card, the pundit who solemnized their marriage was not registered and there was no legal document to show as proof that Bai and Kumar were married. Even the photographs did not show her face clearly, being completely bowed and covered by the big dupatta as is tradition, thus remaining unrecognized.

‘I don’t need permission to divorce my husband because he has already left me since 2018, and his family has disowned me,’ said Lakshmi.

But Bai’s family continues to be ostracized by their community. “There is not a single day I don’t cry seeing my daughter in this condition,” said her mother, adding there has been no moral support from even their immediate family and friends who look upon them scornfully.

Moreover, when asked by Advocate ShankerMeghwar, who is practicing in the district and sessions courts in Hyderabad said “that there is no law of khula in Hindus, whereas if the girl has stated that she was being married to such and such then she needs to get termination of marriage judgment from court even if the acknowledgment has been denied. If there is no document then there must be expressed view of her on a non-judicial stamp paper that she is willingly contracting marriage after the left of the first husband.”

The Sindh Hindu Marriage (Amendment) Act 2018, is relevant legislation in a court of law. Marriages can be registered at the time of the solemnization and must be registered with union councils/wards or any other municipal authority within 45 days of the marriage ceremony. For the termination of marriage, a petition can be presented by the husband or wife to the court. However, there are certain grounds provided under this act. Even though termination of marriage can be initiated by the wife (as in the same way of khula) or by the husband (as in the same way of talaq), they can both terminate their marriage by mutual consent of termination. Hindu man or woman can seek divorce as the legal provisions for it exists, even though marriage is not officially registered. Simple affidavit along with two witnesses who reaffirms the marriage of said girl with the defendant/husband. In case the defendant appeared and denied the marriage then there is the remedy to jactitation (what does this mean) the marriage through proper evidence, Meghwar added.

However, in 2016-17, the Sindh provincial assembly became the first legislature in Pakistan to pass a law governing the registration of marriages for the Hindu community. In 2018, Sindh also passed the Sindh Hindu Marriage Amendment Act-2018 at par with legislation done at the federal level.

According to the 2017 Pakistan Census, there are approximately 4.4 million Hindus, living in Pakistan with a majority in Sindh province.

Shanker Meghwar said both the legal fraternity and civil society members were familiar with the law. “It is the community where awareness of the existing law is needed,” adding that lack of legal recognition for Hindu marriages is a major problem for members of the community, especially women.”

When asked, Human Rights Activist, Krishan Sharma said that a majority of the people have a different perspective when it comes to registering your marriage, making national identity cards or other legal certificates, if you ask them their reply will be so surprising “We are not going anywhere, we don’t need passport or visa so why we do this all” this is ground, but on the other hand Sanghar, Sujawal, Umerkot, Tharparkar and few other districts of Sindh are registering pundits and making things in a legal framework.

Dr. Ekta Kachbani, a Karachi-based rights activist, belonging to the Hindu community, who has long been raising her voice against religious minorities, child marriages, and forced conversion, pointed out that the Hindu marriage act came into existence purely to stem forced conversions.

“The helpless government in Sindh, could not pass a bill for forced conversion, instead they ended up drafting a vague marriage bill which is a far cry from what is happening on the ground,” said Kachbani.