ISLAMABAD: Punjab police suspect that 147 seminaries in the province receive funds from abroad, the police chief of the province informed a Senate committee here on Wednesday.

But since “no actionable intelligence” is available against them, police have put them under constant watch, Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Sukhera told the Senate standing committee on rules of procedure and privileges. He also shared the list of the suspect seminaries with the committee.

Chairman of the Committee retired Col Tahir Hussain Mashahdi told Dawn that replying to his question about banned groups reappearing under new names, the IGP suggested that instead of banning organisations, better ban individuals.

Mr Mashhadi said the committee members appreciated the suggestion and that he will take the proposal to the Senate standing committee on interior of which he is a member.

Meanwhile, the procedures and privileges committee he chairs has directed the interior ministry to come up with “a correct and comprehensive report on the religious seminaries receiving funding from abroad” within one month.

The matter of regulation and funding of the seminaries landed with the committee as a consequence of the incomplete reply given by the Punjab police to a query put by Senator Sughra Imam on January 30 that no foreign-funded seminary existed in Punjab. That reply was rejected as an attempt to mislead the upper house of the parliament.

In contrast, 23 seminaries located in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were known to have been receiving foreign funding.

IGP Sukhera of Punjab personally appeared before the committee on Wednesday to apologise and fill up the “incomplete information”. The seminaries in Punjab are being mapped and accurate statistics will be available soon, he said.

He told the committee that police came to know of an irregularity either by intelligence or by some solid evidence, after which a case is registered. Several proposals are under study to amend the laws regarding banning organisations, wall chalking and use of loudspeakers.

Senator Sughra Imam wanted “full disclosure” of the seminaries receiving foreign funding. The committee must not be misled, she added.

Secretary of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), Additional Secretary Interior also briefed the committee, which did not feel that Punjab police should be the only source of information about the seminaries in Punjab, their funding, curriculum, students, local and foreign, and their faculty.

Committee chairman Sen Mashhadi sought “full and reasonable information on the status of seminaries” from the interior ministry and collected from all sources.

Committee members expected the ministry’s briefs and working papers to contain “more concrete information” than newspaper reports.

Secretary Nacta told them that since various agencies and provincial governments provide differing statistics, Nacta does not know the exact number of madressahs in the country. He promised to provide them information about financial transactions to madressahs from abroad “as and when it is received”.

The Nacta official briefed the committee in detail about the operations carried out in the aftermath of the deadly attack on the army school in Peshawar and the progress made in implementing the National Action Plan.

Minister of State for Interior Baleeghur Rahman had told the upper house on January 30 that, according to provincial governments, 12 madressahs in KP were being funded by various sources in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Source country was not identified for the nine foreign-funded madressahs in Balochistan and two in Sindh.

Seminaries are registered under various laws, including the Companies Ordinance 1984, Trust Act 1882, the Societies’ Registration Act 1860, Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies (registration and control) Ordinance 1961, Charitable And Religious Trust Act 1920, Musalmaan Waqf Act 1913, and the Charitable Endowments Act.

Enforcement of these laws was devolved to the provinces following the 18th Amendment, the minister had said.

Though the laws give authorities sufficient control and vigilance over the working of seminaries, including the audit of their finances, the senators were astonished to hear that no seminary in Punjab received foreign funds.

Published in Dawn March 5th , 2015

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