Christian Divorce Act earns varied reactions in Pakistan

A Pakistan court ruled that Christians can now divorce for reasons other than adultery, and this move has gotten both praise and criticism.

The Lahore High Court has recently restored Section 7 in the Christian Divorce Act of 1869, consequently restoring Christian couples' rights to divorce for other reasons besides marital infidelity. Christian couples can now file for divorce based on British laws.

Section 7 was omitted by the Federal Law and Clause Ordinance 1981, which was enacted during the time of General Ziaul Haq. The ordinance inserted Section 10, which says that only a Christian husband can file for divorce, and he needs to have proof that his wife is guilty of adultery before he can do so.

Many people considered the restoration of Section 7 as a landmark victory.

Minority rights activist Khalid Shahzad said Section 10 hindered couples' decisions to go their separate ways.

"Some men made false claims of adultery against their wives in order to divorce them," Shahzad said, according to The Express Tribune. "Meanwhile, some women chose to convert to Islam to dissolve the marriage."

Pakistan's Catholic bishops released a study in February which shows that restrictions like Section 10 can lead women to choose conversion to Islam in order to get out of problematic marriages.

Cecil Shane Chaudhry, executive director of the Catholic Bishops' National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), said removing such restrictions will also help them monitor genuine domestic problems, according to UCA News.

However, the recent change in the Christian Divorce Act is an unwelcome news to others from the Catholic Church.

Bishop Jimmy Matthew considered it as "an attempt to defame religion."

"Gospel is the final word. Christian families get separated and later resettle but changing the law on holy matrimony is an attempt to defame religion," the bishop said in the same report.