National MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi has objected to an article that appeared in Sunday Star Times accusing Sikh and Muslim religious leaders of forcing teenage girls into marriage.
He said that while forced marriages concerned all, singling out the Sikh and Muslim communities as perpetrators of the despicable practice was inappropriate.
Mr Bakshi said Parliament’s Justice & Electoral Committee (of which he is a Member), had discussed the issue following a public petition on forced marriages submitted in November 2009.
“The petition also focused on relationships in the nature of marriage and raised concerns across the racial, ethnic and religious spectrum. But it did not focus specifically on Sikhs and Muslims,” he said.
He said these communities had taken offence to the newspaper report.
The Sunday Star Times Report quoted Shakti Community Council Communications Manager Shila Nair as saying that girls as young as 13 and 14 were forced into marriages within Gurdwaras and Mosques.
“Imams and the Granthi perform these marriages which are consummated without registration. Girls as young as 14 and 15 are getting pregnant. Even the school system do not pick it up and the girls go through a lot of suffering,” Ms Nair is reported to have said.
Mr Bakshi said the Select Committee had taken advise from the Justice Ministry officials and recommended a series of measures to Justice Minister Simon Power.
Although child marriages are getting fewer in modern India, with the Federal Government in New Delhi keen to root out this evil. The practice is outlawed by the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006. The Act empowers the law enforcing authorities to punish any male (over 18 years of age) marrying a minor girl up to a maximum prison term of two years and/or a fine of Rs 100,000 (about $3100).
Read our Editorial, Protecting Children from marriage under Viewlink.
