LAHORE, July 3: The meeting of religious seminaries’ representatives with the federal government authorities scheduled for Thursday has been postponed for two days after the Ittehad Tanzeemat-i-Madaris Deenia demanded, as a first step, withdrawal of the Madaris Registration Ordinance.

A source in the Ittehad said it had demanded a meeting with Gen Pervez Musharraf ahead of the talks. He said the meeting was rescheduled to accommodate the demand.

According to Ittehad sources, two representatives each of the five member organizations would be included in the delegation besides Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Hafiz Husain Ahmad for talks with the government team comprising ministers and secretaries for interior, education and religious affairs.

Rabitatul Madaris president Maulana Abdul Malik said there was no need for a new law to regulate the seminaries already registered under the Societies Registration Act and functioning for the last 200 years.

He feared that the government wanted to open the door for interference by various departments.