JUI(F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman has threatened the federal government to complete the process for enactment of Madaris Bill or face a long march on the federal capital. Addressing a public rally in Peshawar, he said that a meeting of Ittehadul Madaris — a conglomerate of different organisations of Madaris representing the major schools of thoughts — would be convened to devise a joint strategy on Madaris registration bill. The Maulana said that the bill was passed by the Senate and National Assembly separately with the consent of the government’s allies but the president returned the bill.
The registration of religious seminaries has been a longstanding issue. During the tenure of the PTI government in 2019, an agreement was signed with the Ittehad-e-Tanzeemul Madaris, under which all religious seminaries were required to register with the Ministry of Education. The agreement stipulated the closure of unregistered seminaries and allowed for the cancellation of registrations in cases of non-compliance. Under the agreement, seminaries were required to open bank accounts, foreign students were permitted to study and uniform curriculum objectives were established. According to reports, so far 18000 seminars have got themselves registered with the concerned directorate of the Ministry. However, as per understanding reached between the Government and the JUI(F) a Madaris Registration Bill was adopted by the National Assembly and the Senate on the eve of the passage of 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill by the parliament as part of the deal to enlist support of the JUI(F) for the amendment. The bill was sent for assent of the President who returned it citing legal concerns. He reportedly questioned the bill’s legal validity and expressed concern about its jurisdictional clarity pointing out that education was a provincial subject. It seems that in a bid to secure support of the JUI(F), the Government hastily accepted the Maulana’s demands without giving them proper and deep consideration. Minister for Education Chaudhary Salik Hussain and Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi have a point in emphasizing that seminaries are also educational institutions and the demand for their registration with the Ministry of Industries was not understandable.
The Minister maintained the country’s system was run according to principles, rules and regulations and it was not based on anybody’s wishes. No doubt, the position adopted by the Government is logical but the question arises why such issues were not given consideration during passage of the bill and why casual attitude was adopted towards a law with serious implications. Anyhow, the Government is not talking in terms of rolling back the entire bill and the Maulana should also review his position. If the existing system of registration of seminaries is working alright and thousands of institutions have already got themselves registered by the Religious Directorate of the Ministry of Education, there is no justification to make it controversial or change the procedure. There is no doubt that the religious institutions are imparting vital knowledge to hundreds of thousands of children throughout the country. They have a significant role in the promotion of society and character building of students belonging, mostly, to marginalized segments of the society. A majority of them are sincerely engaged in imparting religious knowledge to students but there are also complaints about involvement of some of them in negative activities. It was in this backdrop that there has been a demand for their proper registration and oversight and also facilitating to offer formal education as well to their students so as to help them become productive and self-reliant citizens. This objective should not be compromised over procedural issues. The issue needs to be sorted out through discussions and dialogue and not through pressure tactics.
