Pakistan raises minimum marriage age to 18 for Christians

• President Zardari signs Christian Marriage Amendment Act into law.
• President approves the Act under Article 75 of Constitution.
• President calls on govt to increase minorities quota in jobs.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that all minorities are equal citizens of Pakistan who have equal rights, underscoring the need to further enhance the employment quota for them in all government jobs.

President Zardari said this while addressing a special ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr after he signed into law the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act 2024, raising the marriageable age for Christian men and women to eighteen years, according to the press release issued on Tuesday by the President's Secretariat Press Wing.

Speaking about increasing the employment quota for minorities in all government jobs, the president said that he would write to the government in this regard.

Highlighting equal rights for all minorities in Pakistan, he stressed that minorities should not be disheartened by some isolated incidents, saying that they had equal ownership over the homeland as much as anybody else.

The president accorded approval to the Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act 2024 under Article 75 of the Constitution. The act amends Section 60 of the Christian Marriage Act of 1872.

Previously, the age of Christian men and women intending to be married was 16 and 13 years respectively.

The ceremony was attended by the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony (MORA), Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Secretary Ministry of Religious Affairs, Zulfiquar Haider, members of the Christian community and senior government officials.

Speaking on the occasion, Bishop Abraham Daniel expressed his gratitude to the President for signing the Act into law, saying that raising the age of marriage for men and women had been a long-standing demand of the Christian community.

He also thanked President Zardari for his role in his previous tenure in reserving a 5% quota for minorities in government jobs, besides allocating special seats for minorities in the Senate as well as declaring 11th August as Minorities' Day in Pakistan.

Secretary MORA Zulfiquar Haider said that the government was 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.