Madrassa bill: Decision to be made on streets if demands not met, Fazl warns govt

JUI-F chief slams bureaucracy and establishment for not accepting curriculum of religious seminaries

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Tuesday threatened to launch a protest drive if the government further delayed the matter and refused to notify Societies Registration (Amendment) Act 2024 passed by both houses of parliament.

Addressing the National Assembly session, Fazl said legislation on the bill regarding madaris was made after the government expressed satisfaction on it. Whereas, the matter of registration of madaris in the Ministry of Education was part of an agreement, not an act, he added.

"As per the agreement, the government would cooperate in the registration of new madaris. There was an agreement that registration of those madaris that have been registered will be maintained.

“The agreement mentioned bank accounts of madaris will be opened and 3-year visas will be issued for foreign students of madaris,” however, he said, neither bank accounts were opened nor visas were issued for students. Hence, he said, that agreement was broken by the government.

Then they talked about the education ministry and President Asif Ali Zardari raised an objection in the bill on October 28, which was corrected by the NA speaker terming it a human error, before sending it back to the President House.

“Which meant the bill was received by the President's House on October 28,” he added.