Madrassa registration: JUI-F sets Dec 8 deadline for govt as minister seeks time to 'give bill a legal shape'
“You declared war on us, we did not,” says Fazl as govt denies rolling back madrassa registration process
December 07, 2024
- Fazl say doesn’t want confrontation with state.
- Govt pushing seminaries towards extremism: JUI-F chief.
- So-called reforms are being imposed on madrasa, he says.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has set a December 8 deadline for the government to approve the seminary registration bill as the minister for religious affairs sought more time to give the bill a legal shape.
Tensions between the Maulana and the coalition government in the Centre further deepened as President Asif Ali Zardari, earlier this week, returned the Madrassa Registration Bill to the Prime Minister's Office, citing legal objections.
Addressing an event at Madrassa Jamia Usmania in KP’s Nowshera, the JUI-F chief said that they wanted to remain within their limits and did not want confrontation with the state.
Expressing his annoyance over differentiating between ancient and modern education, he said: “Knowledge is knowledge.”
He said all the religious seminaries were kept “under pressure”.
So-called reforms were being imposed on madrassa in the name of bringing the seminaries into the mainstream.
“You declared war on us, we did not.”
Responding to a question, the JUI-F leader said that the government was pushing the seminaries towards extremism and radicalism.
He said that they would not consider objections regarding madrassas in any way.
“We will not hand over any more madrassas to the government,” the JUI-F leader added.
In a statement today, Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Chaudhry Salik Hussain said that registration of seminaries was a long-standing requirement.
“It will take some time to give the Madrassa Registration Bill a legal shape,” the minister said, adding that it does not mean that the entire process of madrassa registration is being rolled back.
Accepting the Maulana’s demand, the government got approved the bill from both houses of the parliament, he said.
“Madrassa are also educational institutions that only fall under the education ministry.”
The minister said: “18,000 Madrassas were registered with Directorate General of Religious Education.”
There was a one-window operation at the directorate general to ease the registration process.
