ISLAMABAD, July 29: The government has decided to constitute an Inter-Madressah Board to regulate and register the 11,782 seminaries across the country within the three months, according to Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq.

He told Dawn here on Friday that the board was likely to complete the registration work by September 30, instead of December 30 — the deadline earlier set by the president.

He said that the proposed Board would replace the Madaris Reform Board and introduce uniformed curricula in the Madressahs throughout the country with a view to remove disparity.

“For all practical purposes, the Madaris Reform Board has ceased to exist due to opposition by the religious leaders and heads of Madressahs,” the minister said.

He said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had agreed in principle to set up the Inter-Madressah board which would hopefully be constituted and announced very shortly after the formal approval of the federal cabinet.

“The Society Act of 1868 is being amended to separate Madressahs from other institutions like NGOs and volunteer organizations, he said.

He said that the board would act as a one window operation to deal with Madressahs, comprise federal secretaries of interior, education and religious affairs ministries and prominent educationists and work under the supervision of the ministry of religious affairs.

He said that the board would ensure introduction of modern education and obtaining of financial assistance from the federal government to run Madressahs on modern and scientific lines.

“Through the board the government will have centralized data on Madressahs and their students,” he said, adding that the ministry of religious affairs would coordinate the working of the seminaries with the help of Ulema.

Giving details, Mr Haq said that 8,000 Madressahs were being run by Deobandi Ulema, 1800 by Brailvi, 400 by Alh-i-Hadees, 382 by Shia and 1,200 by the Jamaat-i-Islami.

Answering a question, he said the proposed board would check accounts, audit and operations of Madressahs every year to ensure that they worked accordingly and without the involvement of political and religious parties.

About alleged involvement of some seminaries in the London bombings, Mr Haq said that he had held meetings with seminary heads and they had strongly condemned the incidents of 9/11 and 7/7 and those who were spreading hate material.

He regretted that district coordination officers had been showing their so-called performance by arresting students and heads of Madressahs on unsubstantiated charges with the result that they immediately obtained bails from the courts.

Mr Haq said that for more than 10 years, no serious effort had been made to register seminaries due to which they had grown disproportionately.

However, the minister said that the reorganization of Madressahs was not aimed at hounding or insulting anyone but at creating harmony and ensuring the teaching of modern subjects there as well.