ISLAMABAD: As many as 39 religious seminaries and two worship places located in proximity to the Pakistan Day military parade venue at Shakarparian near Faizabad will be vacated for a week as part of the security arrangements for the event, which is being held after a break of eight years.

A notification issued by the Auqaf department on Monday said: “Due to the sensitivity and security requirement of the joint services Pakistan Day Parade 2015 scheduled on March 23, all madaris and shrines in the close proximity (two kilometres) of the venue is required to be vacated and closed from March 18 to 24.”

The Pakistan Day parade used to be a regular feature till 2008 when it was suspended due to security issues and terrorist incidents in the country.

The notification was issued by the Auqaf department after security forces and intelligence agencies demanded the closure of the seminaries and shrines and sent a request to the interior ministry in this regard. On the direction of the ministry, the district magistrate Islamabad asked the additional deputy commissioner (east), who is also the deputy director Auqaf department, to issue the notification.

Notification issued to close 41 madressahs, worship places from March 18

Separate lists of the madressahs and shrines were sent to the assistant commissioners Secretariat, the Industrial Area and the City carrying the names of the 39 seminaries and two worship places, including Imambargah Asna-i-Ashri, G-6/2.

As many as 17 of the seminars and one imambargah are located at I-8 Markaz, I-8/1, I-8/3, I-8/4, H-8/1, H-8/2 and Faizabad Chowk.

The list also contained the names of 14 seminaries and an imambargah in the area of the Aabpara police, including at Aabpara Chowk, G-7/3-4, G-7/3-2, G-7/3-1, G-7/4, G-7/2, G-6, G-7/1, G-6/1-3, G-6/2 and Shakarparian.

Likewise, the six seminaries located in the area of Shahzad Town police included Sohan, Margallah Town and Rawal Dam Chowk are also to be closed and get vacated for a week. Three of the seminaries in the area of the Secretariat police are located at Murree Road, Rawal Dam Colony and Kashmir Chowk.

When contacted, an officer of the capital police said they had not received the list so far neither any officer of the district administration had contacted them. He said the police would act as directed by the capital administration.

An official of the capital administration told Dawn that they received the notification on Monday and work on its implementation would start in two to three days. “Hopefully, the seminaries will be vacated before the deadline of March 18,” he added.

“The administration of the seminaries will be approached and we are hopeful that they will cooperate with us.” He said the administrations of the madressahs would be asked to announce a week-long vacation. During the vacation, he added, the students and teachers would leave for their hometowns, making it easy for the administrations to close the seminaries.

After the students and teachers leave for their hometowns, the madressahs would be taken into custody and policemen would be deputed there to avoid the presence of anyone inside, he added.

Meanwhile, Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia Pakistan in a press release said the government’s decision to forcibly close over 40 religious seminaries in the capital city was deplorable and illogical.

It said the discriminatory policies against the seminaries would not be accepted and the government should avoid making the seminaries suspicious.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2015

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