PESHAWAR: Rejecting the Child Marriage Restraint Bill, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman on Sunday said that ease was being created for the promotion of adultery in the country, while the process of nikah was being made difficult under the pretext of so-called legislation.
“There is no restriction of age for marriage in Islam. The only restriction is the attainment of puberty, which may occur at the age of 10, 12 or 14,” he said while addressing a news conference here.
He claimed that deliberate efforts were being made to erode the Islamic identity of the country. Previous legislation, he said, had been attributed to pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The recent legislation aimed at prohibiting the marriage of individuals under 18 was also based on certain sections of the UN Charter, he alleged. “It means that the country is still not free and remains under the clutches of a neo-colonial system,” he added.
The Maulana said that the so-called legislation was against the spirit of the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah and constituted a blatant violation of the basic principles of the Constitution, which clearly stated that no law shall be enacted that was repugnant to the Holy Quran and Sunnah. He added that due to the flawed policies of the rulers, the country was not only losing its Islamic identity but also its democratic character. This, he argued, strengthened the narrative of militant organisations that believed that the parliament had failed to deliver.
“It is strange that anti-Islam legislation is being passed in an Islamic republic,” he remarked. He recalled that a similar attempt had been made during the Musharraf regime to promote adultery in the name of women’s rights.
The current law, too, he claimed, would make the process of nikah more difficult, which would ultimately lead to an increase in adultery.
The Maulana said that the Council of Islamic Ideology and religious scholars from all schools of thought had rejected the legislation as contrary to Islamic teachings, the Holy Quran and the Sunnah.
He declared that the JUIF rejected the law and would launch a massive protest campaign against it across the country. The first major political gathering in this regard would be held in Hazara Division on June 29, he announced.
Maulana Fazlur Rahman also criticized the rising number of mega-corruption scandals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the prolonged PTI government. He said corruption in the province could not be eradicated unless the JUIF came to power.
He alleged that the establishment had launched a smear campaign against the JUIF, but not a single FIR had been registered against any party leader. “Had there been any truth in the accusations, we would have been in prison,” he said.
He further stated that he had never claimed 100 percent control over corruption during the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government, but corrupt practices had certainly been curtailed and condemned at all forums.
“Now, under the current PTI setup, massive corruption is happening openly,” he alleged.
Referring to recent revelations, he said the Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, who belongs to the ruling party, had disclosed that the embezzled funds amounted to over Rs200 billion not just Rs40 billion.
He called for a judicial probe into the corruption scandals. “The government claims that Rs20 billion out of the Rs40 billion has been recovered,” he noted.
He ridiculed the Pakistan People’s Party’s protest against corruption, saying they seemed to be protesting because their own “record” had been broken.
Speaking on regional developments, the Maulana said that after the recent military confrontation between India and Pakistan, the regional dynamics had changed. China, he said, was rapidly emerging as a regional power and the region could be plunged into chaos due to the “insane decisions” of Indian rulers.
He said that they had long suggested strengthening ties within Asia rather than relying on Europe, but the ‘stupidity’ of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pushed the region towards war. He urged the Indian people to think about the policies of Modi administration.
He also stressed the need for improved relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which he described as the most urgent need of the hour. He welcomed the Afghan government’s decision for asking militant groups to refrain from staging attacks in Pakistan.