Center is presently engaging its networks of religious scholars and higher education institutions to hold a series of seminars in various universities of Pakistan on the issue of Child Marriage. As part of this effort, Center held the fifth and last of its interactive seminars on April 9, 2019 at the Kinnaird College, Lahore. Nearly 70 students participated in the orientation session. The event highlighted the issue of child marriage from sociological, legal and religious perspectives. This was also a precursor to an Inter-University Poster Competition organized by Center so that participating students are better informed for development of their artworks. More details on the poster completion are provided on this link.
Ms. Shagufta Bhatti, who is the Program Director at Center, shared with students sociological and legal perspectives on child marriage in Pakistan. From the Religious perspective, Dr. Raghib Naeemi of the Darul Uloom Jamia Naeemia, Lahore shared his insights on the subject in Lahore.
The series of seminars and the poster competition are part of larger effort by Center to advocate for legislative amendments to Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 and to push for stronger implementation. A concerted nationwide campaign is being held to create a better understanding of child marriage issue from different perspectives in order to rally diverse voices in support of the cause.
In addition to sociological and legal perspectives, the discourse allowed students to interact with religious fraternity to openly discuss the issues from religious viewpoint, thereby challenging the current negative narrative and sowing seeds for creating an alternate religious narrative. Students asked questions to gain clarity on the issues, among others, related to consent in marriage, poverty in Pakistan and the lack of options available to parents but to marry off their children at young age, especially in the light of rights and obligations of duty bearers. The concept of a family unit in Islam, the roles and responsibilities of both husband and wife towards each other as well as towards their children, understanding of Sunnah [sayings and practices of Prophet Muhammad] were also explored. The series of seminars is giving opportunity to diverse voices to connect and generate a supportive discourse against the practice of child marriage.
This initiative is part of project ‘Promoting Legislation, Prompting Action to End Child Marriage in Pakistan. The Project is in its second phase and funded under a grant program named AmplifyChange. More details on this initiative are provided on this link