|
|
| August 28, 2005 | Sunday | Rajab 22, 1426 |
Standoff on madressah registration continues
ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: A state of confusion continues to bedevil the nation’s madressahs on the question of getting registered under the newly amended ordinance while a standoff lingers on the decision of repatriation of some 1,400 foreign students.
The alliance of five main federations of seminaries called “Ittehad Tanzeemat Madaris Deeniah” belonging to various sects has failed so far to develop a consensus on the two issues and have decided to hold their meeting in Islamabad in the first week of September.
The Rawalpindi/Islamabad chapter of Wafaqul Madaris Arabia (Deobandi) held its extraordinary meeting in Islamabad last week, which was also attended by MMA secretary-general Maulana Fazlur Rahman, to reject the mode of registration that the government had prescribed for them through the amended ordinance.
Federal secretary of religious affairs Vakil Ahmed Khan is, however, optimistic that the “sincere” efforts to put the standoff between the government and religious seminaries to an end would bear fruits.
He did not say whether the initiative of sending registration forms to the provinces had borne any fruits so far.
He only reiterated that the seminaries had nothing to worry about rumours that they will be asked to disclose the source of their income or submission of annual report to registrar will be used as a hidden weapon against them.
The ITMD spokesman, Qari Muhammad Hanif Jallendhri, told Dawn by telephone on Saturday that the alliance expected from the government to make changes in the amended Registration of Societies Act 1860 so as to remove their reservations before the registration exercise.
He insisted that the wording of 21st section added to the law in question had certainly created some confusion and some questions which ought to be removed/answered and “we hope this could be done through dialogue”.
Before such a meeting, the five federations (wafaqs) will hold their respective executive board meetings to prepare for the ITMD meeting, sources said.
Mr Jallendhri said: “I don’t see any urgency in getting registration of seminaries and the process could start after the government removes our reservations against the amended law.”
When asked about media reports of a meeting of ITMD scheduled for August 31 with President Gen Pervez Musharraf, he said “we are neither informed about such a meeting nor have we been asked about forming our delegation”.
He said “our aim to meet the president” was to seek his indulgence in “removal of our reservations” and complaints against the amended ordinance and expulsion of foreign students.
He said: “We believe that the government’s decision of repatriation of foreign religious students was discriminatory which needs to be withdrawn.”
Earlier, it was reported that the government had allowed seminaries where such students were studying to appear in their examinations before packing up to go back to their homes.
Mr Jallendhri, who is known for his support to the government in its plans of bringing the religious institutions into the mainstream, however, said: “We have rejected outright the government’s decision of repatriation of external students, describing it as being discriminatory against religious institutions and cruel for those who had come to Pakistan to seek knowledge of Islam.”
Responding to the observations of Mr Jallendhri, secretary of religious affairs said that the federal minister for religious affairs Ijazul Haq had assured the ITDM leaders to wait till the said ordinance was presented in the National Assembly to get the desired changes if required were inserted before its passage.
|
|
