Zardari dismayed by Rs300mn KP govt grant to Darul Uloom Haqqania

ISLAMABAD: Former president and PPP co-chairman of Asif Ali Zardari has expressed concern and dismay over the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government's allocation of Rs 300 million to Darul Uloom Haqqania, a privately-owned seminary in Akora Khattak known for its alleged links with Taliban militants.

"This is nothing but legitimization of militancy and militant Taliban that will undermine the nation's resolve to fight militants to the finish," the PPP co-chairman said in a statement released here on Sunday.

Spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the former president was deeply concerned over the use of public funds for "legitimising a private seminary known for promoting private jehad project".

"The resources should have been spent on human development instead of on a seminary whose claim to fame lies in its promotion of militant Islam and the world view of Islamic militants.

"That it should have happened around the time when a group of the militant Taliban reportedly claimed responsibility for the target-killing of Sabri Qawwal in Karachi makes it all the more poignant," Asif Zardari said in the statement.

He said that the head of the Darul Uloom Haqqania in Nowshera is an acknowledged sympathiser and undeclared spokesperson of the Taliban.

"During the government-TTP talks in 2014, the Taliban actually named the head of the seminary to negotiate on their behalf. It is also widely known that a number of militant Taliban leaders have been students of this seminary," he added.

Last week, a story published in The News had revealed that the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf led KP government had made a drastic cut in the funds for minorities and allocated a whopping Rs300 million for the seminary in the provincial budget.

Provincial Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani had told The News that the funds were allotted on the request of the Darul Uloom Haqqania.

However, the KP government spokesman clarified that move was aimed at mainstreaming religious seminaries as around three million students are enrolled there where they are fed, sheltered and taken care of free of cost.

He said the provincial administration wanted to enhance monitoring and oversight of the religious seminaries which is not possible without catering for their needs and bridging disconnects.

According to media reports, four terrorists involved in carrying out the murder of Asif Zardari's slain wife, former PPP chairman Benazir Bhutto.

The Darul Uloom Haqqania denies the allegations and any accusations that any of its students were involved in the assassination. A spokesman for the seminary has said that those having vested interests were maligning the religious institution as part of a propaganda campaign by anti-Islam lobbies to defame the famed religious institution.