Pak eases rules for married Hindu women to obtain ID cards

Pakistan has eased regulations for issuing national identity cards for married Hindu women, who had been facing problems in obtaining them in the absence of a law to register marriages of the minority community.

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The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has inserted a new provision in the application for the national identity cards whereby a married Hindu woman is required to submit only an affidavit as proof of marriage.

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The provision was added on the directions of the Supreme Court, which had asked NADRA to amend its rules for issuing national identity cards to Hindu women.

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The amended application form for the identity cards was introduced on Wednesday and a formal notification was issued by authorities, officials said.

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In the absence of a law to register Hindu marriages, women from the minority community had been facing problems in obtaining identity cards as they were unable to provide proof of their marriage.

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According to the notification, the affidavit submitted by a Hindu woman should have her husband's name and be countersigned by him.

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No further proof of marriage will be sought from applicants.

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Officials said the move by NADRA would ease the processing of applications from the Hindu community.

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The federal government is also working on the draft of a bill to register Hindu marriages.

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