PESHAWAR: Authorities will get legal powers to start registration of madressahs in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas after the extension of the Societies Registration Act 1860 to the region, say officials.

The officials said President Mamnoon Hussain had signed a notification in this regard and issued directions for the extension of the Societies Registration Act 1860, which was currently enforced in the Islamabad Capital Territory, to Fata to start registration of madressahs in the tribal borderlands.

They said the legal mechanism did not exist for the registration of madressahs in Fata and that the president under Clause (3) of Article 247 of the Constitution had ordered to extend the said act to the region to begin registration of madressahs.

Authorities will get powers to do so after extension of Societies Registration Act 1860 to tribal region

The notification said for the words ‘provincial government’, wherever occurring, the words ‘federal government’ in the act were substituted, while for the words ‘civil courts’, wherever occurring, the words ‘courts of political agents and assistant political agents’ were substituted.

Under the Constitution, the president has the powers to extend any law to Fata whenever necessary.

Following the extension of the said act to the tribal region last year, the Fata civil secretariat will frame rules for the registration of seminaries.

In the absence of legal cover to register madressahs, a wing has been established in the Fata directorate of education that had started enlistment of religious institutions.

Besides starting enlistment, the law and order department of the civil secretariat has also started geo-tagging of seminaries in seven Fata agencies and six Frontier Regions (FRs) to record precise location of every madressah in the region, where local authorities have no legal powers or tools to regularise religious educational institutions.

An official in the know told Dawn that the geo-tagging of madressahs was launched in the region in line with the guidelines of the National Action Plan, which was framed last year in the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attack on the Army Public School and College Peshawar.

He said the geo-tagging of madressahs had been completed in South Waziristan Agency, Khyber Agency, Orakzai Agency, Frontier Region Bannu and Frontier Region Dera Ismail Kahn.

The official said the process had been partially completed in Kurram and Bajaur agencies and Frontier Region Kohat.

“The general public will not get access to the data of madressahs,” he said.

The industry department has been registering madressahs and nongovernmental organisations in the four provinces as well as the Islamabad Capital Territory under the Societies Registration Act.

“Presently, the directorate of education has started enlistment of madressahs functioning in tribal areas. When rules are framed, then madressahs will be registered properly,” said another official.

Under the plan, a total of 567 madressahs have so far been enlisted across Fata, where 85,213 boys and girls are enrolled.

Some madressahs are providing boarding facilities to students.

South Waziristan Agency has the highest number of madressahs in the entire tribal region as 238 seminaries have been enlisted there.

The authorities have enlisted 156 madressahs in North Waziristan Agency, 62 in Khyber Agency, 24 in Bajaur Agency, 22 in Kurram Agency, 16 in Orakzai Agency, 16 in Mohmand Agency, 10 in FR Bannu, five in FR Lakki Marwat, six in FR Dera Ismail Khan, eight in FR Tank and four in FR Kohat.

The data of madressahs in FR Peshawar has not been compiled.

Officials said the government provided teaching staff to madressahs, where subjects of formal education were also taught.

They said additional rooms were also constructed in some madressahs.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2016