The Punjab Assembly on March 14 passed a bill, universally hailed as historic, catering to the regulation of Sikh marriages in the province. Termed the ‘Punjab Sikhs Anand Karaj Marriages Act 2018’, the bill was tabled in the legislative by MPA Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora.
After the Hindu Marriage Bill was passed in 2017 by both houses of parliament, the Sikh Marriage Act is another right step taken to give due rights to the communities represented by the white colour in our flag. In the absence of specific laws pertaining to marriages in minority communities, the minorities found it difficult, often impossible, to give any legal sanctity to their nuptials. This barred them from claiming many dues and rights endowed under such a union.
Welcomed by all quarters, especially the Sikh community, not a single member of the provincial assembly raised any objections against the presented bill; giving it unanimous approval. Anand Karaj, literally translated as ‘blissful event’, is the name given to traditional Sikh marriages, invariably held at gurdwaras. Before this bill was passed, marriages were only registered with the local gurdwaras, and would hold little to no official standing. This highlights the importance of such a law for about 20,000 Sikhs in Pakistan, mostly concentrated in the Punjab province, all the more.
Celebrations, however, gave way to sensationalism and a number of hefty claims were made regarding this bill. “Pakistan [will be] the only country in the world to register Sikh marriages”, claimed the mentioned MPA in a moment of overwhelming joy. His remark was duly picked up by all. As it turned out, Pakistan is not the first country in the world to legally register Sikh marriages, it is India. It all started with the Anand Marriage Act 1909, passed by the British and adopted by both Pakistan and India (and subsequently, Bangladesh). However, no provisions were made in this act regarding the actual procedures of registration, and it continued as a law in good spirit but of little use. For most of the time Sikhs in India had to register their marriages through the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, reducing the standing of Sikhs as a distinct community with their own set of values. The situation changed in 2012 though when the Central Government of India passed the Anand Marriage (Amendment) Bill, thereby providing a clear path to the registration of the community’s marriages. This act passed by India’s parliament had to be taken up by the states individually, and they took their own paths towards the adoption of the bill. Haryana became the first state to implement this law, followed by Punjab in 2016; other states are also on their way to adopt these laws. It was only last month that Delhi announced that Sikhs wouldn’t have to register their marriages under any other laws anymore, as the said act was set to be taken up by it.
In this aspect, Pakistan lost to its arch-rival. But if the treatment of minorities is a zero-sum game with a throat-cutting competition and balanced only against the ‘other’, all is not blue for Pakistan. Pakistan (more specifically the Punjab Assembly) has actually become the first governing body in the world to devise separate personal and family laws for the Sikh community.
The comprehensiveness of the Punjab Sikhs Anand Karaj Marriages Act 2018 is its greatest achievement. Besides laying out clear procedures for the registration of Sikh marriages, it also broaches vividly upon other issues related to marriage. It has clauses pertaining to the dissolution of marriage, child support and maintenance following dissolution. These lesser talked upon aspects of the bill are basically the most progressive; nowhere else in the world does a law provides these details. Even in India, the law only speaks of marriage registration, and Sikhs have to seek other avenues (mutual consent most commonly) for the nullification of such a bond.
Therefore, Pakistan has definitely become the first country in the world to pass personal and family laws for the Sikh community. And while congratulations are in place for the Punjab Assembly, the Sikh community, and every Pakistani hoping for a tolerant, egalitarian society, let’s not forget that provision of basic rights to all is not a rat race. First or last, the only important thing is to continue providing for the weaker amongst us.
The writer is a freelance columnist.
Email: invincible_apprentice@hotmail.com
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