Leaders from all of Nepal's faith communities come out against child marriages

18 Sept. 2013: Nepal's Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim religious leaders on Tuesday joined forces to stop child marriages. Using their “privileged” status in society, they have decided to launch an awareness campaign to stop this practice, still very widespread in the country. The religious leaders will record some audio and video messages in which they denounce child marriages. The ads will then be broadcast nation-wide on radio and in television. Such practices are still widespread because they depend on cultural and religious factors. As Nepal's main religion, Hinduism has traditionally accepted marriages among minors, the supporters of this campaign are grateful to Hindu leaders for their participation.
"Religion," Hindu leader Ram Chandra Bhandari told AsiaNews, "always wants the best for society. When combined with culture, traditions and civilisation, it can create a dangerous mix and spread distortions like child marriage, but Hinduism cannot justify them."
Source: Asianews