The controversy surrounding the Societies Registration (Amend­ment) Act 2024 came to an end on Sunday when President Asif Ali Zardari signed it into law.

Controversy persisted in the country related to the new law passed by parliament related to the regulatory affairs of madressahs. The law pertained to the registration of seminaries by the relevant deputy commissioner’s office, as it was before 2019.

On December 20, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman — after decrying that the government was deliberately delaying the passage of the bill — claimed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had ordered the law ministry to take immediate practical measures as per the law and the Constitution regarding the Act.

Two days before that, the government and the JUI-F both seemed to favour talks in a National Assembly session to sort out the controversy surrounding the proposed legislation.

Earlier in the month, Zardari had cautioned parliamentarians to consider international obligations before altering the existing procedures for registering religious seminaries.

The proposed legislation, commonly known as the madrassah registration bill, was sent back to Zardari with objections, even though it was passed by parliament at the time of the passage of the 26th Amendment.

A notification signed by President Zardari today, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said: “The Prime Minister’s advice at para 6 of the summary is approved. The Societies Registration (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024, is signed and promulgated.”

A gazette shared by National Assembly Secretariat Tahir Hussain, a copy of which is also available with Dawn.com, said that madressahs founded before the act which have not been registered must do so within six months of the act’s commencement.

The gazette added that the legislation received the assent of the President on December 27 to become an act of Parliament.

Any madrassah established after the commencement of the Act must register itself within one year.

According to the gazette, madressahs must submit an annual report of their educational activities to the Registrar, as well as submit an audit report of its accounts carried out by an auditor.

“No [madressah] shall teach or publish any literature which teaches or promotes militancy or spreads sectarianism or religious hatred,” the gazette said.

Every madrassah shall, subject to their resources, include basic contemporary subjects in their curriculum according to a phased programme, it went on to say.

“No [madressah] shall be required to register itself under any other law for the time being in force,” the gazette added.

Separately, JUI-F spokesperson Aslam Ghauri, while congratulating the country, said that the struggle had “paid off”, adding that his party would always play a role in protecting religious seminaries.

The party spokesperson said that the seminaries were “the fortress of Islam” and the guardians of the “ideological geography” of the country.

He said that the unity of the religious scholars was important for the protection of religious institutions, adding that the party would thwart “every conspiracies” against the seminaries.

“We will not compromise on the autonomy of the seminaries,” Ghauri said.