‘Religious leaders should disapprove child marriage’

Prayagraj: child marriage is not a problem related to any religion or sect but is a crime by law. Therefore, it is the duty of all not to allow girls to get married below the age of 18 under any circumstances, emphasised local religious heads at Samalipur panchayat bhawan of Meja block.Various religious heads shared the common platform at a meeting organised by Pragati Gram Udyog and Social Welfare Institute under the awareness campaign against child marriage.Addressing the meeting, Sanjay Jaiswal, project manager of the institute, presented statistics related to child marriage in India and Uttar Pradesh. He also said that child marriage should be seen as a crime rather than a social evil. Local religious leaders also said in one voice that it is also our responsibility to ensure that girls are not married at an early age. As religious leaders, we will neither conduct child marriage nor approve child marriage.Those who attended the meeting included Sachchidanand Tripathi, Vyas Giri, Shiv Suchit, Harischandra, and Ram Lal Tripathi (Hindu community); Mohammad Zafar and Abdul Siddiqui (Muslim community); Amrish Singh and Ranveer Singh (Sikh community); and Om Dutt Singh from Arya Samaj. State head of British Asian Trust Umesh Gupta, Shahzad Akhtar of Pragati Sansthan, Hemant Negi, Vijay Shankar, and Ravi Shankar were also present during the meeting.Prayagraj: Child marriage is not a problem related to any religion or sect but is a crime by law. Therefore, it is the duty of all not to allow girls to get married below the age of 18 under any circumstances, emphasised local religious heads at Samalipur panchayat bhawan of Meja block.Various religious heads shared the common platform at a meeting organised by Pragati Gram Udyog and Social Welfare Institute under the awareness campaign against child marriage.Addressing the meeting, Sanjay Jaiswal, project manager of the institute, presented statistics related to child marriage in India and Uttar Pradesh. He also said that child marriage should be seen as a crime rather than a social evil. Local religious leaders also said in one voice that it is also our responsibility to ensure that girls are not married at an early age. As religious leaders, we will neither conduct child marriage nor approve child marriage.Those who attended the meeting included Sachchidanand Tripathi, Vyas Giri, Shiv Suchit, Harischandra, and Ram Lal Tripathi (Hindu community); Mohammad Zafar and Abdul Siddiqui (Muslim community); Amrish Singh and Ranveer Singh (Sikh community); and Om Dutt Singh from Arya Samaj. State head of British Asian Trust Umesh Gupta, Shahzad Akhtar of Pragati Sansthan, Hemant Negi, Vijay Shankar, and Ravi Shankar were also present during the meeting.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Valentine's day wishes, messages and quotes !