KARACHI, April 3: The federal government has asked the Sindh Madressah Board (SMB), which used to manage and control the Sindh Madressatul Islam (SMI) before it was nationalized, under what authority it was collecting the funds after the SMI had been taken over by the government, it was learnt reliably. According to sources, the bone of contention is 64 shops worth about a couple of billion rupees at the market price.

These shops constructed on the Sindh Madressah land costs around Rs25 million each. However, on papers the rent per shop is a meagre amount of a few hundred rupees per month.

The sources said that the SMB, which was managing the affairs of the SMI had been collecting the rent from the these shops since these were constructed nearly four decades back and probably utilizing these funds to operate the SMI.

They said that though the SMI, like many other educational institutions, had been nationalized in 1972 during Zulqikar Ali Bhutto’s government, the SMB continued to collect, and in fact was still collecting, the rent from these shops.

The SMI is under the control of the federal education ministry.

The sources said that during a recent visit of the Federal Education Ministry’s Joint Educational Adviser, Brig Zafar Iqbal, expressed astonishment as to why a private body was collecting rents from the shops that were constructed on the SMI land.

In a communication to the SMB president Nisar H. Effandi, a great grandson of the SMI founder Hasanally Effendi, the adviser Brig Zafar Iqbal, referring to his meeting with Nisar Efendi says that “to reach an appropriate conclusion you are requested to please give factual position of following points.

Under what authority Sindh Madressah Board was working after Sindh Madressahtul Islam was taken over by the federal government and why Sindh Madressah Board was occupying a part of government building.

Under what authority the SMB was collecting the rent of the 64 shops constructed on government land belonging to the SMI; and, under what authority the SMB was utilizing the funds generated from the property of the SMI to other projects and who approved these projects.

“It would be appropriate that answers to above queries must be backed with legal documentary proof,” the federal government’s communication to the SMB chief Nisar Effendi concludes.

Quaid’s will: The sources said that while the federal ministry was looking in to the issue of the shops constructed on the SMI land and collection of the shops’ rent by the SMB, an other similar issue of getting one third share from the Quaid-i-Azam’s property, also needs to be looked in to.

The sources said that the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who had studied at the SMI, in his will had said that his property be distributed among three educational institutions – Aligarh Muslim University, Islamia College Peshawar and the SMI.

The sources said that over Rs10 million, from its share from the Quaid-i-Azam’s property had been received by the SMB up to Jan 27, 1994 – the break up of which is as under.

SMB Secretary Abdul Razzak A Thahim, in his letter, written in the year 1986, to Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah Estate administrator Liaquat Merchant acknowledged the receipt of a cheque of Rs8,90,000, saying that with this cheque the total amount received so far from the Quaid’s property comes to Rs5.6 million.

Three payments of Rs1 million (April 14, 1986), Rs2.2 million (March 10, 1987) and Rs1.5 million (June 5, 1987) had been acknowledged separately by the SMB president N. M. Uquaily, while the fourth payment of Rs511,600 had been acknowledged by the SMB secretary Imdad Hussain Kehar on April 27, 1994.

The sources said that the reason to accept the amount received by the SMB till the SMI was nationalized, from the Quaid’s property could be understood, but why and under what capacity the SMB had accepted the amount after the SMI was nationalized in 1972.

The sources have urged the federal government to institute a high level inquiry into the issue.