The 1869 law is restored. In 1981, under General Zia’s rule, an amendment was introduced that allowed Christian couples to divorce only in case of adultery. This chained women to violent and polygamous marriages, and forced Christians who wanted to end a marriage to convert to Islam.
Lahore (AsiaNews) – The Lahore High Court has decided to restore the old divorce law of 1869, which regulated Christian marriages before changes made under General Zia-ul-Haq in 1981.
The amendment introduced under Pakistan’s old military regime authorised divorce only in cases of adultery and has long been criticised by Christian organisations, who complained of discrimination compared to Muslims and demanded greater marriage protection for the Christian minority.
"The possibility of divorce for those who do not commit adultery will help decrease the number of forced conversions to Islam,” Cecil Shane Chaudhary told AsiaNews.
For the executive director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Pakistani Catholic Church, some people used this ploy to get out of their first marriage. “Now when there are conversions, they will be authentic and genuine.”
In his decision yesterday, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah reintroduced Section 7 of the Christian Divorce Act of 1869. Based on British traditions, it regulates divorces and separations of Christian couples.
In 1981, General Zia amended the law by adding Section 10 through a federal ordinance, which allowed couples to divorce only in cases of adultery.
For several years, the NCJP slammed the 1981 Act’s discriminatory provisions, which "chained" women to their husbands even in case of violence or polygamy after men converted to Islam and married other wives.
Catholic activists do not question the sacredness of the act of marriage, which for the Christian movement is a rock-solid principle, but rather the uncertainty of marriage rules and the delays in court decisions.
For Peter Jacob, activist and director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), the High Ciurt's decision shows "the archaic nature of the laws on marriage and divorce for Christians. The ruling removes an ambiguity and seeks to harmonise existing divorce laws with a 2015 law on domestic violence and protection of women".
Still, the Christian Marriage Act and Divorce Act “does not yet provide for equality between the sexes, which can only be achieved through new legislation,” he added.
Ata-ur Rehman Saman, a Christian teacher and NCJP coordinator, welcomes the ruling. This is "a good gesture towards the Christian community. It will reduce the number of conversions to Islam among those who want to dissolve their Christian marriage. "
The NCJP, he noted, released a paper in the past in which it called for changes to minority family laws “to eliminate suffering in the Christian community".