PESHAWAR: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday warned the government against testing his pat­ience as he declined to discuss any objections raised by the president over the seminaries registration bill which was passed by parliament alongside the 26th Amendment.

“Prior to the passage of this bill on the floor of both houses of parliament, the draft of the bill was approved by the PML-N, PPP, and PTI in separate meetings with the leadership of JUI-F,” the Maulana said while addressing a gathering at Jamia Usmania in Pabbi town.

The international and Pakistani establishments and bureaucracy are bent upon pushing the religious seminaries towards extremism by creating hurdles for these institutions, he said, warning that the JUI-F would go to any extent for the protection of seminaries.

The extremists were those who pushed the seminaries’ students for terrorism and extremism, he said, adding that “we, however, want to be part of the Pakistani state and want to remain in the ambit of constitution and law”.

JUI-F chief states will go to ‘any extent’ for protection of seminaries

“There is no forum, where it can be discussed as to who are creating terrorists — you (establishment) or we,” the Maulana said.

According to the JUI-F chief, they were taking out a ‘Death to Israel’ rally in Peshawar on Sunday and if the government did not agree to their demands then they would also launch a movement against the government.

He said the government didn’t raise objections over the deletion of 34 sections out of 56 proposed in the constitutional ame­n­­dment prior to its passage and over the approval of several controversial laws then why it was reluctant to give assent to the Societies Registration (Amend­ment) Act, 2024.

He further said that after the Pakistan Demo­c­ra­tic Movement formed its government in the centre, there had been an agreement on legislation rega­rding the registration of seminaries and their status before the general election, adding that a draft was also prepared in this connection.

“When we resumed discussions, regular negotiations were held for five hours, with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also present. Everything was resolved with consensus. So, where have these objections come from now?” he questioned.

After a consensus was developed with the PPP, the JUI-F leadership held a lengthy meeting with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and he also agreed to the proposed law. The PTI leadership had also informed in the meeting with the JUI-F that they had no objections to the proposed law, he said, adding the PTI leadership said that they couldn’t cast a vote due to the peculiar political situation.

“I was engaged for one month in consultations with the ruling political parties deliberating on the seminaries’ bill,” he said. If President Asif Zardari has raised objections over the bill now then why did he agree to it in the meeting with him, he added. “We had reached a consensus with the political parties over the bill through dialogue and had not forced them to do so at gunpoint,” he said.

The JUI-F chief said they were still ready for dialogue but the government was bent on keeping the religious seminaries under pressure, adding these seminaries have become a part of the society and cannot be separated.

He said they wanted to keep the seminaries away from the influence of the government. “We are demanding the registration of the seminaries and opening bank accounts for running financial affairs transparently but the government is consistently declining it,” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2024