'Barring Muslim women as marriage registrars unconstitutional'

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Jasad) has said the High Court’s decision to bar Muslim women from becoming marriage registrar on the grounds of certain physical conditions is against the constitution of the country.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Jasad President Hasanul Haq Inu and General Secretary Shirin Akhter expressed their shock over the verdict.

They said the state cannot discriminate between men and women based on their gender. 

They called on the chief justice of the Supreme Court to review the unconstitutional judgment of the High Court by forming a full court of the Appellate Division.

The High Court bench delivered a verdict on February 26 last year rejecting a writ petition filed by Ayesha Siddiqua, a marriage registrar candidate from Dinajpur.

Also Read- High Court bars women from being appointed as Muslim marriage registrars

The petition was filed challenging a decision of the Law Ministry not to recruit her as a marriage registrar.

In its full judgment released recently, the High Court bench of Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque observed: "It has to be borne in mind that due to certain physical conditions a woman cannot enter the mosque during a certain time of the month. She is even excused from performing the mandatory daily prayers during this particular time.”

"This physical disqualification does not allow her to conduct religious task. We are mindful of the fact that Muslim marriage is a religious ceremony and has to be guided by the terms and dictates of Islam," it added.

In its verdict, the High Court also upheld the decision of the ministry that in 2014 said that women cannot be marriage registrar due to the social and practical conditions in Bangladesh.