Criticizing the federal government regarding the madrasa registration bill, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday threatened the ruling coalition that if they decide to take a long march towards Islamabad, no one will Can’t stop the way. During the December 17 meeting of the Ittehad al-Madaris organization.
His remarks came hours before the deadline set by the religious-political party. The JUI-F set a deadline of December 8 for the government to approve the madrassa registration bill.
Addressing a public meeting in Peshawar, the JUI-F chief said that a meeting of Ittehad al-Madaris, a group of different organizations of madrasas, would be convened to formulate a common strategy on the registration bill of madrasas. Represents major schools of thought.
On December 17, a unanimous decision will be taken in the meeting of Ittehad al-Madaris.
He said that this bill was approved by the Senate and the National Assembly separately with the consent of the government allies, but the President returned the bill.
Last week, President Asif Ali Zardari withdrew the bill raising some objections, including that education was a provincial subject.
Addressing the participants, Fazal questioned: “Isn’t it dishonest and fraudulent to sign the bill? Are you ready or not, if we decide to march towards Islamabad?”
He further said that according to the agreement with the government, madrasas will be affiliated but it will not be under the Ministry of Education. An attempt was made to keep madrasas under the Ministry of Education by creating a directorate.
A day ago, the JUIF chief had said that he wanted to stay within his limits and did not want a clash with the state.
Expressing his displeasure at distinguishing between ancient and modern learning, he said: “Knowledge is knowledge.”
He said that all religious madrassas have been kept “under pressure”.
So-called reforms were being imposed on the madrasas in the name of bringing the madrasas into the national mainstream.
“You declared war on us, we didn’t.”
In response to a question, the JUI(F) leader said that the government is pushing Madrasahs towards extremism and fundamentalism.
On the other hand, Minister of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Chaudhry Salik Hussain said yesterday that the registration of madrasas was a long-standing need.
“It will take some time to legalize the madrasah registration bill,” the minister said.
He said that accepting Maulana’s demand, the government approved the bill from both houses of Parliament. “Madrassas are also educational institutions that come under the Ministry of Education only.”
The minister said: “18,000 madrasas were registered with the Directorate General of Religious Education.”
The Directorate General had a one-window operation to facilitate the registration process.