{"id":9238,"date":"2025-06-01T18:04:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T18:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=9238"},"modified":"2025-06-01T18:04:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T18:04:01","slug":"fazlur-rehman-announces-nationwide-protests-against-child-marriage-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=9238","title":{"rendered":"Fazlur Rehman announces nationwide protests against child marriage bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced nationwide protest against proposed legislation restricting underage marriages, calling the bill contrary to Islamic teachings and an attack on Pakistan\u2019s religious identity.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a press conference in Peshawar on Saturday,\u00a0Fazl\u00a0claimed the law is being shaped under foreign influence. \u201cPakistan\u2019s identity is Islam, and that identity is under threat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He accused the government of drafting legislation based on recommendations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and United Nations resolutions, rather than Islamic principles. \u201cThe UN’s stance is being used to pass laws against early-age marriages. The President is also refusing to sign the religious seminaries bill,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Fazl criticised what he described as legislation in violation of the Quran and Sunnah. \u201cDemocracy is losing its case, and such actions are empowering the narratives of armed groups,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

The JUI-F leader\u00a0alleged that past legal reforms, including those under former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, had targeted religious values. \u201cThe bottom line is that hurdles are being placed in the way of legitimate marriage while ease is being created for fornication,\u201d he said, adding that the Council of Islamic Ideology had already rejected the proposed child marriage law.<\/p>\n

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Declaring a nationwide protest against the bill, Fazl said, \u201cWe will present our viewpoint to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commenting on geopolitical matters, he claimed the world had entered a new Cold War era. \u201cAsia, under China\u2019s leadership, is emerging as a new economic power. After 9\/11, we spoke of a global revolution. Now we are in a new phase,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fazl also took aim at India, stating that \u201cModi\u2019s foolishness has pushed the region towards war\u201d and that initial hopes for peaceful conflict resolution between Pakistan and India had diminished.<\/p>\n

In a lighter moment, he took a swipe at the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), saying, \u201cI\u2019m reminded of a joke\u2014PPP is protesting against PTI because they\u2019ve broken even the corruption records of the People\u2019s Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

On regional cooperation, he noted the importance of ties with Afghanistan and suggested that extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan and other countries would be a positive development.<\/p>\n

What is Child Marriage Bill?<\/p>\n

President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday signed the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2025 into law, setting the minimum age for marriage at 18 years in\u00a0the federal capital. The new legislation criminalises the solemnisation of marriages where either the boy or girl is underage.<\/p>\n

Under the law, no Nikah khuwan (marriage officiant) may conduct a marriage involving minors, with violations punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of Rs100,000.<\/p>\n

Additionally, a man over 18 who marries an underage girl may face up to three years of rigorous imprisonment. The bill also empowers courts to intervene if informed of an underage marriage, including protecting the identity of those reporting such cases.<\/p>\n

The bill was initially introduced in the National Assembly by PPP MNA Sharmila Faruqui and later presented in the Senate by Senator Sherry Rehman. However, the legislation faced opposition from the CII, which declared the bill contrary to Islamic principles.<\/p>\n

The CII, in its advisory response, objected to the bill by arguing that Islamic jurisprudence permits the marriage of girls once they attain puberty, regardless of age. The council maintains that setting a fixed minimum age of 18 for marriage contradicts certain religious interpretations and therefore should not be made legally binding.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced nationwide protest against proposed legislation restricting underage marriages, calling the bill contrary to Islamic teachings and an attack on Pakistan\u2019s religious identity. Speaking at a press conference in Peshawar on Saturday,\u00a0Fazl\u00a0claimed the law is being shaped under foreign influence. \u201cPakistan\u2019s identity is Islam, and that identity is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}