LAHORE, Sept 27: The Ittehad-i-Tanzeemat Madaris Dinya, a conglomerate of five chains of religious seminaries, has condemned certain bureaucratic circles for allegedly sabotaging the registration agreement it had signed with the government.

Citing an advertisement by the Punjab Industries Department, some local papers carried on Tuesday in which seminaries had been directed to get registered with it, Ittehad secretary-general Dr Sarfraz Naeemi described it as a violation of the settlement.

Under the agreement reached between religious affairs minister Ijazul Haq and the conglomerate last week, it had been decided that the Societies Registration Act of 1860 would be amended and new registration forms printed accordingly.

The seminaries would fill in the forms and submit those to the departments concerned, which would issue registration certificates within a week.

Dr Naeemi said in the absence of the agreed amendment the advertisement was a violation of the accord.

He said the department had asked even those seminaries of mosques to get registered, which did not have boarding students — another violation of the deal.

He demanded action against those who had okayed the advertisement otherwise, he said, it would be considered that it had been got published with the permission of the government.