ISLAMABAD: Ending weeks of uncertainty over the madrassa registration bill, President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday signed the bill into law between the government and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). It became a cause of conflict. .
Meanwhile, the National Assembly Secretariat has issued the gazette notification of the said law according to which Madrasahs will be registered under the Societies Act.
Additionally, the President has also issued an Ordinance on Amendments to the Societies Registration Act, 2024.
According to the ordinance, applicable only to the Islamabad jurisdiction, madrasas will have the option to register with either the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Industries.
The development comes after the federal cabinet on Friday approved changes to the Societies Registration Act, 1860 after the government and the JUI-F resolved their differences.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had met JUI(F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in which the former reportedly accepted all the demands of the “Ittihad Urayazan Madrasas Deeniya (ITMD)” regarding the bill. “.
The controversial madrassa bill, which has already been passed by both houses of parliament, had become a bone of contention between the Fazal-led party and the government.
Its implementation was part of an agreement between the government and the religious political party to support the 26th Amendment, Fazal said earlier.
The bill required President Zardari’s assent to become law after President Zardari withdrew the bill citing legal objections.
The said law, which is now an Act, amends the existing procedure for registration of madrasas with the Ministry of Education, which states that institutions should be affiliated to the Ministry of Industry rather than affiliated.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more details.