Dawn
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16:50 Jun 01, 2025
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday rejected the recently enacted Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025, announcing nationwide protest rallies aimed at “creating awareness” among the public. The bill, which sought to protect the rights of children and eventually eradicate marriages of children under the age of 18 in Islamabad, was signed into law by the president on May 27 after sailing through both houses of parliament. However, the move attracted strong opposition from religious segments of society, with the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) — a constitutional body responsible for giving legal advice on Islamic issues to the government and the Parliament — ruling that “classifying marriage under the age of 18 as rape did not conform with Islamic law.” Addressing a press conference in Peshawar today, the JUI-F chief rejected the law, alleging that it “made fornication easier while making legitimate marriages difficult”. “Pakistan is a strange countr...