ISLAMABAD, July 6: The government turned down on Saturday a unanimous demand of the heads of religious parties to withdraw the Madaris ordinance approved by the cabinet last month to regulate over 11,000 religious institutions operating across the country.
However, an official team comprising three members of the federal cabinet negotiating with the heads of nine leading religious institutions having a chain of Madaris all over the country, indicated the government’s willingness to slightly amend the ordinance for incorporating the “genuine demands” of the religious institutions heads.
The first round of talks between the government and the heads of Madaris was held here at the Ministry of Religious Affairs on Saturday, which ended on a pessimistic note with both sides sticking to their respective positions.
“Nothing is final.. it is a controversial law,” Prof Sajjid Mir, President Wafaqul Madaris Al-Salfiya Pakistan, told reporters after the meeting.
They (the heads of Madaris) were demanding a complete withdrawal of the ordinance which had been rejected by the government, an official who attended the meeting told Dawn.
The religious institutions heads were told that the Madaris ordinance had been approved by the cabinet and it could not be reversed, the official said.
Prof Sajjad Mir, however, seemed to be in a defiant mood and said some provisions of the ordinance including the one concerning the compulsory registration were totally unacceptable for religious institutions.
Some of these religious institutions had been functioning for over 200 years and no intervention or restriction on these institutions would be accepted, he added.
The government might have its own compulsion and “we know that all is being done under international pressure,” he added.
The introduction of contemporary subjects and change in the syllabus were the internal matter of these Madaris and no outside intervention would be allowed, he added.
“Nobody would accept these provisions,” he said. However, he refused to answer a question about the future strategy of the religious parties in case the government did not accept their demands, saying “it is a hypothetical question.”
To another question about the provision concerning the foreign funds received by these institutions, he said it was a misconception.
Most of these institutions were functioning on internal donations and money offered by the people, he added.
Another participant Maulana Abdul Malick said no decision had been taken in the meeting. It was a preliminary meeting and the draft of the ordinance was circulated among the participants.
“We have not approved the ordinance. We will study it and give our suggestions in the next meeting likely to be held after two weeks,” he said.
He said the registration clause was controversial and no institution would comply with it.
Religious Affairs Minister Mehmood Ghazi earlier assured the newsmen that a joint statement would be issued after the meeting but no official word about the talks was made available till the filing of this report late on Saturday evening.
Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider, Religious Affairs Minister Mehmood Ghazi and Education Minister Zubaida Jalal were the members of the official team. They were assisted by Interior Secretary Tasnim Noorani, Religious Affairs Secretary Jameel Bhutto and Education Secretary Tariq Farook.
Those represented religious institutions were, Senior-Vice President Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Pakistan, Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman; Chief Nazim Wafaqul-Madaris Al-Arbiya Pakistan, Qari Mohammad Hanif Jullandhari; President Wafaqul Madaris Al-Salfiya Pakistan, Prof Sajjid Mir; President Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Pakistan, Mufti Mohammad Abdul Qayyum Hazarvi; Chief Examiner Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Pakistan, Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Siyalvi; Chief Nazim Rabita-ul-Madaris Pakistan, Maulana Abdul Malick; Chief Nazim Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Pakistan, Dr Sarfaraz Mufti; President of Wafaqul Madaris Al-Arbiya Pakistan, Maulana Saleemullah Khan and Chief Nazim of Wafaqul Madaris Al-Silfiya Pakistan, Mian Naeem-ur-Rehman.