Women's Rights in Marriage
Govt to make no law against religious sentiment: Shafique
In response to rights activists' demand for an act to ensure women's rights in marital relationship, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed yesterday said the government would not formulate any law, which would go against religious sentiment.
"In our country, different familial issues like marriage registration, relationship between husband and wife, and women's rights to property are being determined by religious code. So the government will only formulate law on these issues, if a unanimous decision comes from all quarters," he said.
"In the Hindu Marriage Registration Act-2012, we have kept marriage registration optional, not mandatory, as a section of Hindu leaders are against marriage registration," he told a meeting, "Securing Women's Economic Rights in Marital Relationship through Law", at the capital's Jatiya Press Club.
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) organised the programme where the organisation placed 29 recommendations, including formulating a "Uniform family Code" to ensure women's economic rights in marital relationship.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has said Bangladesh's discriminatory personal laws on marriage, separation and divorce trap many women and girls in abusive marriages or drive them into poverty when marriages fall apart.
In many cases, these laws contribute to homelessness, hunger, and ill-health for divorced or separated women and their children, the New York based rights body said in a new report released yesterday.
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