For most people the hard part isn't finding a platform. It's the conversation at home. Their objections are usually reasonable, usually about safety rather than about you, and almost always answerable with something specific.
It helps to start from the assumption that your parents are not being unreasonable. In most cases their hesitation comes from one of three places, and none of them is really about the internet.
They've heard the stories. Rishta fraud is real and well publicised — the overseas proposal that turns into a money request, the photos that belong to someone else. If a relative has been through it, that story is doing most of the work in their head.
They trust people they can verify. The traditional rishta network isn't just a habit; it's a verification system. A proposal that arrives through a khala or a family friend comes with a reference attached. Their objection to online is often really a question: who vouches for this person?
They think you mean something else. To a lot of parents, "meeting someone online" means dating. If they think you're asking permission to date, they will say no — and they'll be answering a question you didn't ask.
The single most useful shift is presenting this as an addition to what the family is already doing, not a substitute for it. You are not asking to run your own search. You are suggesting the family look in more places than the people it already knows.
That framing is also honest. A serious matrimonial platform does the same job the aunty network does — it just does it with a much larger pool and with identity checks attached. If your family lives in Islamabad and the right match happens to be from a Rawalpindi family nobody in your circle knows, the traditional network will simply never surface them.
"I'm not asking to do this on my own — I want you to be part of it. You can see every profile, and nobody can contact me without you knowing." That sentence answers the real question, which is about involvement, not about the internet.
Not at a family gathering, not in front of relatives, and not in the middle of an argument about something else. A quiet evening at home, one or both parents, no audience.
Bring something concrete. A conversation that consists only of "trust me, it's safe" goes nowhere. Have the platform open on your phone, ready to show how verification works and how a guardian is linked. Fifteen minutes of looking at something real beats an hour of reassurance.
And expect it to take more than one conversation. Raising it, letting it sit for a week, then coming back to it works far better than pushing for a decision the same evening. People need time to move from "absolutely not" to "well, show me again".
"These profiles are all fake."
Some are, on some platforms. That's exactly why verification matters. On Click Rishta every profile is tied to a confirmed email address, members can complete a selfie check and a CNIC check, and every photo is reviewed by a person before it goes live.
Show them a verified profile and point at the badges. Then show them the safety centre — a platform that publishes the scam patterns openly is making a different kind of claim than one that doesn't mention them.
"What will people say if they find out?"
This is usually the real objection, and it deserves a straight answer rather than being dismissed.
Your profile is not public. Photos are never visible to anyone who isn't logged in, and never to search engines. Individual profiles are not indexed at all — nobody will find your profile by searching your name on Google. You choose whether photos are visible to other members or only unlock when you accept an interest.
It's also worth saying plainly: this is now completely ordinary. A large share of profiles in Pakistan are created by a parent or a sibling, not by the candidate.
"You'll be talking to strangers behind our backs."
Show them the guardian feature. A parent can be linked to the profile, see the matches, see which interests have come in, and flag or approve them. Nobody can start a conversation with you unless you accept their interest first.
Be honest about the limit too: a guardian can see that you're talking to someone, not what you write. That boundary exists deliberately, and most parents accept it once it's explained — what they want is oversight of who, not a transcript.
"A proper rishta comes through people we know."
Agree with them, because they're right that a reference is valuable. Then point out that nothing here removes that step. Families still meet, references are still asked for, and elders are still involved before anything is decided.
The platform changes one thing: which families get introduced in the first place. Everything after the introduction happens exactly as it always has.
Four things, in this order. It takes about ten minutes.
Don't create a profile in secret. It is the single worst thing you can do here. If they find out later — and they usually do — it confirms every fear they had, and the next conversation becomes about trust rather than about rishta.
Instead, ask a different question:
"What would need to be true for you to be comfortable with this?"
The answers are usually specific and usually solvable — that a parent holds the account, that nothing proceeds without them meeting the family first, that only verified profiles are considered, that a maternal uncle reviews anything serious. Almost every version of "no" is really a request for a condition.
If it stays a firm no, leave it and come back in a few months. Nothing is lost. Meanwhile, an older sibling or a cousin who your parents trust is often the most effective person to raise it again — not because you need an ally against them, but because the idea lands differently when it isn't coming from the person it's about.
Your son or daughter probably sent you this. If your first reaction was hesitation, that instinct is sound — there are genuinely bad actors in this space, and being careful is the correct response, not an old-fashioned one.
A few things that may be useful to know:
The safety centre sets out the warning signs in detail, including what to do if something has already gone wrong. It's worth ten minutes whether or not you decide to go ahead.
Raise it as an addition to what they're already doing rather than a replacement, choose a calm moment rather than a family gathering, and bring something concrete to show them — how verification works and how a guardian can be linked. Framing it as widening the family's search lands better than framing it as your own project.
Yes. Registration begins by asking who the profile is for, so a parent or sibling can create and manage it. A guardian can also be linked to an existing account and see match activity, though guardians cannot read private messages.
Don't create a profile in secret — it confirms every fear they have and makes the next conversation far harder. Ask what specifically would need to be true for them to be comfortable, and address that. Often the objection is about verification and involvement rather than the platform itself.
Yes, and increasingly so. A large share of profiles are created and managed by a parent or sibling rather than the candidate, which is why Click Rishta asks who the profile is for as the very first registration question.
This article offers general guidance on a family conversation, not advice on any individual situation. If you are experiencing pressure or coercion regarding marriage, speak to someone you trust, or to a professional or legal adviser in your area. Last reviewed 27 July 2026.
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