ISLAMABAD: The Mutta­hida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) — an alliance of religio-political parties — on Monday warned the government against making any amendment to the blasphemy law.

The warning was issued at a National Consultation Confe­rence, organised by the MMA, to discuss Islamisation of existing laws and seminary reforms.

The conference adopted a resolution rejecting any amendment to the blasphemy law.

Speaking to participants of the conference, the head of the MMA, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, said that a conspiracy had been hatched to convert the country into a secular state.

“This system is portraying all those with beards and turbans as terrorists. This is the first step to mould public opinion in favour of changing the ideological status of Pakistan into a secular country,” the JUI-F chief said.

Addressing the representatives of seminary boards of Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahle Hadith and Shia schools of thought and some other boards affiliated with Jamaat-i-Islami, the MMA chief said: “I am giving you a piece of advice. Please do not get carried away in the apparent lucrative offers and progressive programmes presented by the government.”

Maulana Fazl said that respective governments had been making a mockery of religious seminaries since 1994 in the name of negotiations and modernising them. “There should not be any further talks with the government on the issue,” he said.

However, his words were not receptive to leaders of different seminary boards and Hafiz Niaz Naqvi, the head of Wafaqul Madarisul Shia, asked the MMA chief to explain the reasons for the poor performance of the MMA in the general elections. “There must be a reason why the MMA did not perform well in the elections,” he said.

“Besides, why is that the MMA has come now to discuss issues faced by madressahs?”

The head of Wafaqul Madaris Al Arabia of Deobandi school of thought, Qari Hanif Jalandhari, also asked several questions from the MMA leadership.

He asked the Jamaat-i-Islami chief about education and seminary reforms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the previous PTI government when the Jamaat was PTI’s coalition partner in the provincial government.

Eventually, the apparent idea at the start of the conference by the MMA leadership to drum up support from seminaries for any anti-government movement failed.

“The religious seminaries are like other educational institutions and we do not get involved in political affairs,” said a leader of a seminary board, citing the example of Jamia Hafsa, Islamabad.

He was referring to a movement launched by Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid, Islamabad, in 2007 to implement his own version of Sharia laws in the country.

When Maulana Abdul Aziz launched that movement, the registration of Jamia Hafsa had been cancelled by Wafaqul Madaris Al Arabia after giving him several warnings not to bring girl students on roads in protests.

The registration still continues to be cancelled.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018