ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari signed into law the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act 2024, raising the minimum age for Christian men and women to eighteen years.
The president granted assent to the Act under Article 75 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan during a special ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
The Act amends Section 60 of the Christian Marriage Act of 1872. Before these amendments, Christian men and women intending to marry were required to be older than sixteen and thirteen years, respectively.
During the ceremony, President Zardari called for increasing the employment quota for minorities in all government jobs, stating he would write to the government about this. He emphasized that all minorities are equal citizens with equal rights.
President Zardari emphasized that minorities should not be discouraged by isolated incidents, stating that they have equal ownership of the homeland just like anyone else.
On the occasion, Bishop Abraham Daniel remarked that increasing the marriage age for men and women had been a long-standing demand of the Christian community. He expressed his gratitude to the president for signing the Act into law.
He also thanked President Asif Ali Zardari for his role in his previous tenure in reserving a 5% quota for minorities in government jobs, allocating special seats for minorities in the Senate, and declaring August 11th as Minorities’ Day in Pakistan.
Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony, Zulfiquar Haider, said that the government is committed to safeguarding the rights of minorities in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan and the vision and values of the country’s founding fathers.
The ceremony was attended by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony Zulfiquar Haider, members of the Christian community, and senior government officials.
