BU Holds Seminar on Child Marriage
The Department of Law, Bangladesh University (BU) has organised a seminar on the issue of child marriage on 17 December at its Auditorium. Ms. Nurun Naher Osmani, Honourable Member of National Human Rights Commission Bangladesh, graced the occasion as Chief Guest. Engr. M. A. Ghulam Dastagir, Secretary, Board of Trustees, Bangladesh University, was present as the Special Guest. Ms. Taslima Yasmin, Assistant Professor of the Law Department, University of Dhaka presented the key note paper titled: 'Child Marriage in Bangladesh: Recent Developments' followed by a panel discussion. Among others, distinguished panelists including Mr. Nur Khan Liton, Executive Director (Acting), Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), Mr. Mohammad Bellal Hosain, Associate Professor, Department of Population Sciences, University of Dhaka, Ms. Rowshon Ara, Project Director of Naripokhkho, Ms. Nina Goswami, Senior Deputy Director, Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), and Ms. Mitali Jahan, Project Manager, Bangladesh National Woman Lawyer's Association (BNWLA) spoke on the occasion.
The keynote paper described the obligations of Bangladesh under various international instruments to protect interest of children and to prohibit forced marriage. Raising the current concern of various organisations and civil society members regarding the new draft bill on child marriage, the paper highlighted the features that had strengthened the draft law as compared to the existing law in terms of increasing the punishment and including certain provisions such as provision for forming a committee to prevent child marriage. However the inclusion of a ‘special provision’ allowing child marriage in special circumstances with the permission of the court and consent of parents and in the best interest of the ‘underage woman’ has raised concerns. The paper argues that since the law nowhere makes the child marriage annulled or void, creation of an exception merely to free someone from criminal liability does not seem to be necessary. Moreover, since the marriage remains legal, the legitimacy of a child from an unwanted pregnancy also remains beyond challenge. The paper highlighted the recent law in India prohibiting child marriage and recommended that this can be taken up as an example to revise the current draft law.
The distinguished panelists emphasised the need to have access to the new draft and to place their observations in a proper forum so that the new law reflects child friendly and more comprehensive provisions. The discussants viewed the insertion of the ‘special provision’ as a potential threat of misuse and also argued that this may in effect encourage and legalise child marriages and thus vitiate the ultimate purpose of the law. Rather the consistent decline in child marriage statistics proves that even with the current legal framework child marriage can be effectively reduced if the implementation mechanisms work properly. Therefore, new law should focus on the implementation aspect of the various provisions regarding child marriage.
Mr. Kamrul Hasan, Honourable Treasurer, Bangladesh University presided over the seminar. Deans of different Faculties, Heads of different Departments, teachers of Law Department and a huge number of law students of BU were present at the seminar. The session was followed by an Open Discussion and Question-Answer Session for the Law-Students.
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