A number of rights and development activists have expressed concern and discontent over the draft Hindu Marriage Registration Act 2012, which makes marriage registration for Hindus “optional”.
They demanded the marriage registration be made mandatory in the law approved by the cabinet on Monday to ensure rights of the Hindu women.
If the draft is enacted as it is, the Hindu women would not get any benefits from the law and prevailing social discrimination and repression would persist, because most of the men would use the law for their own interests, they said.
The activists believe that rights of both men and women of Hindu community will be protected if the law makes marriage registration mandatory, a media statement said yesterday.
It also said Hindu Bibaho Ain Pronoyone Nagorik Udyog, a citizens' initiative to make a law for Hindu marriage, demanded enactment of a full-fledged Hindu marriage law, making marriage registration mandatory and including a provision for divorce.
The social activists, however, congratulated the government for endorsing the draft of the Registration (Amendment) Act 2012, which incorporates provisions of donation of land verbally by members of the Hindu, Christian, Buddha and other religions by paying Tk 100 as fee.
Under the existing law, only the Muslims could register land under Heba Dalil [verbal donation] by paying Tk 100.
Signatories of the statement include Advocate Sultana Kamal, Nina Goswami of Ain O Salish Kendra; Shaheen Anam, Rina Roy, Banashree Mitra Neogi and Arpita Das of Manusher Jonno Foundation; Ayesha Khanam, Rakhi Das Purakayastha and Advocate Ramlal Raha of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad; Angela Gomes and Nazrul Islam of Banchte Shekha; Prof Meghna Guhathakurata and Krishna Dev of Research Initiatives Bangladesh (RIB); Aroma Dutta of PRIP Trust; Ranjan Karmakar and Rekha Shaha of Steps Towards Development; Rita Das Roy of Naripokkho; Dr Maleka Begum of Dhaka University; Krishna Chanda of GIZ; Sushama Rani Mandol, APP of Gazipur Judge Court; Manjushi Shaha of RDRS; Kalpana of CARE Bangladesh, and Ruma Halder and Ila Chanda.