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However, the Sikh community wants changes in the Act. The law replaced the Anand Marriage Act of 1909 after Sikhs demanded that it be repealed. But the problems that the community had with the old law over issues such as maintenance, custody of children, registration of marriage and alimony have not been addressed in the new Act.
So even though lot of Sikhs tied the knot on the last day of the Baisakhi festival on Monday, none registered their marriage under the new law.
Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee president Bishan Singh's two children who married earlier this month too did not register their weddings under the Act.
The Act needs to be amended and therefore no couple has applied for registering their marriage under it, Singh told the Daily Times.
He also said a delegation of Sikhs had met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, who said he would redress all their grievances. Former federal law minister Afzal Haider had announced in January that Sikh couples would register their marriages under the new Act during the Baisakhi festival.
Meanwhile, sources said the government is planning a world-class mass marriage for Sikhs in November. The couples, including 14 from Britain, eight from the US, nine from India and four from Malaysia, will come to Pakistan to tie the knot. The government intends to register these marriages under the new Act, the president of American Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee said.
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