MULTAN, Sept 17: Talks held between Religious Affairs Minister Ijazul Haq and the leadership of Wafaqul Madaris on the issue of registration here on Saturday remained inconclusive. The minister has been in town since Friday. He held talks with the leadership of Wafaqul Madaris, one of the five wafaqs running seminaries in the country, aimed at winning its cooperation for registration of religious schools latest by Dec 31.

However, the Wafaqul Madaris representing some 9,000 seminaries refused to soften its stand on amendments made recently to the law regulating seminaries.

Sources said the minister and the Wafaqul Madaris leaders held two rounds of talks, but in vain. Talking to Dawn, Wafaqul Madaris secretary-general Qari Hanif Jalandhari said they had agreed to continue talks, adding that the next round would be held in Islamabad next week.

He said amendments were discriminatory as these were applicable only to seminaries. He asked the government to bring all schools running in the private sector to the ambit of the amended law.

He said there were ambiguities in the law which needed to be clarified. For instance, he pointed out, seminaries would have to submit an annual activity report to the registrar but it was not clear exactly what kind of information seminaries were required to furnish.

Similarly, he continued, the Wafaqul Madaris did not accept the clause that seminaries would also submit an income and expense statement.

He said they were ready to submit a simple annual audit report without going into ‘minor details’.