ISLAMABAD: Important officials from five seminary boards refused to sit with government officials, on Tuesday, in protest of the comments made by the information minister last week.

The officials said the minister insulted seminaries, clerics and disgraced Islam, Quran and Hadees.

The meeting chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed was called at the religious affairs ministry to discuss the new madressah registration form introduced by the government.

The adviser, religious affairs secretary, officials from the four provinces, ICT administration, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir waited in their seats for one hour for the office-bearers of the five main Wafaq or madressah boards to arrive.

Demand action against the minister

Religious Affairs Secretary Sohail Amir announced the main agenda of the meeting and said that currently numerous government departments are managing the affairs of the madressahs and a form has been designed to collect proper documentation for the seminaries, at the time of their registration.

Following the announcement of the agenda, the microphone was handed over to Mufti Muneebur Rehman chairman Itehadul Tanzeemat-i-Madaris-i-Deenya. He expressed serious reservations over the statement made by Information Minister Senator Pervaiz Rasheed in Karachi on May 3, 2015.

He read out the transcript of the minister’s speech, quoting him as saying that the seminaries are universities of ‘illiteracy’ and the only knowledge given there is related to life after death, fanning sectarianism and hatred in society.

“Now, the government must take appropriate action against Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, otherwise there is no point for the government to sit with illiterates and ignorant,” he said.

“It is better we walk out of here,” he added and left along with the other clerics who had accompanied him to the meeting.

These included Qari Hanif Jhalandhari who heads the board of madressahs of the Deobandi school of thought, Dr Yaseen Zafar representing the Ahle Hadees madressahs, Hafiz Niaz Naqvi who heads the board of Shia seminaries and Dr Attaur Rehman representing the board of Jamaat-i-Islami’s (JI) madressahs.

Despite efforts from the religious affairs secretary, the clerics did not return to the meeting. Later, Khawaja Zaheer told the officials from the four provinces that following the 18th Amendment, the management of religious affairs in their respective provinces is their responsibility.

He said the provinces should start compiling updated lists of seminaries and religious institutions in their respective areas as well as initiating negotiations with the seminaries at the local level.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2015

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