LAHORE, July 18: Ittehad Tanzeemat Madaris-i-Deenia, an alliance of five organizations of religious seminaries, has planned a protest drive against the government to press it to withdraw the proposed Madaris Registration Ordinance.

A source in the Ittehad told Dawn here on Thursday that an all-parties conference and ulema conventions would be organized in the first phase of the protest drive.

The APC will be held in Lahore on Aug 7 while the conventions will be organized in Islamabad and Karachi on July 24 and 31, respectively.

A decision to come on roads would be taken most probably at the APC if the government did not withdraw the ordinance or least amend it according to the demands of the Ittehad, which represents 13,000 seminaries with at least 1.4 million enrolment, the source said.

However, the Ittehad leadership sees slim chances of any change in the government stance on the issue if the seminaries do not put up ‘active resistance’.

But the tense border situation was preventing them to immediately launch a massive protest campaign, said the source, who had been participating in the parleys with the government officials on the ordinance issue.

He said during the parleys he got the impression that the government was under immense US pressure on taking ‘action’ against the seminaries and was exercising sovereignty less than any state of the US could exercise.

The source believed that President Gen Pervez Musharraf was being misled by his advisers in this regard for otherwise he had on many occasions promised to safeguard interests of the seminaries.

According to him, some clauses included in the proposed ordinance on the insistence of the interior ministry were pinching the seminaries most.

Under these clauses, the government has been authorized to appoint auditor of its choice for the audit of the religious institutions’ accounts, he said. It can also direct the institutions to keep their deposits/accounts with a specific bank. On the revelation of any ‘fault’ the institution(s) may be shut down.

Another clause entrusts the district Nazim to issue NoC for the establishment of a new seminary, he said. The Nazim is bound to inspect proposed building of the institution before approving its establishment. The religious scholars termed this clause bewildering for no structure could be erected before purchasing a piece of land. And before purchasing the land in the name of an institution, they needed an NoC from the district government.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the central council of the Ittehad held here on Thursday rejected the Madaris Registration Ordinance terming it ‘anti-Madaris ordinance.’

It demanded the president himself hold a dialogue with the Ittehad leaders to prevent anarchy in the country as a result of the government’s action against religious institutions.

It formed a coordination committees for organizing the APC. Another committee was formed to have a close contact with the national press.

The meeting appealed ulema and politicians across the country to expose negative impacts of the government actions against Madaris through Juma sermons and other public meetings.