Standoff continues between Pakistan government, religious-political party on madrasa registration bill

ISLAMABAD: A standoff continued on Monday between Pakistan’s federal government and a religious-political party over a bill regarding the registration of religious seminaries, with authorities saying they would not succumb to political pressure.
The Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2024, which has already been passed by both houses of parliament, is now caught in limbo despite earlier assurances to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) by the ruling coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that it would become law.
The passage of the bill was widely reported to have been one of the conditions on which the JUI-F supported the coalition government and helped it secure the two thirds majority required in parliament to pass the 26th Constitutional Amendment in October. Although the bill has been approved by parliament, it now requires the president’s approval to become law but President Asif Ali Zardari returned the bill to the Prime Minister’s Office earlier this month, citing legal objections.
The main sticking point is that the new bill amends the existing procedure for registering madrasas with the education ministry and says the institutions should be affiliated with the industries ministry instead.
“This is a national decision, and we will not yield to political pressure, as the decision to register seminaries with the federal ministry of education was made by consensus in 2019 and will remain in place unless religious scholars collectively decide to change it,” Federal Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said in a televised address during a meeting with religious leaders on madrasa reforms.
Addressing the meeting, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said “extensive consultations” were being held to find a solution acceptable to all stakeholders.
“In this meeting, we have noted the suggestions of religious scholars from across Pakistan and will discuss them within the government, while also engaging with JUI-F to find a mutually acceptable solution,” Tarar added.
Minister for Religious Affairs, Choudhary Salik Hussain, who also attended the meeting said registering religious seminaries under the education ministry aimed to provide contemporary education to students at such institutions.
“We want them [madrasa students] to become doctors, engineers, pilots, and excel in other professions, while also receiving religious education,” he added.
However, the JUI-F has threatened a protest march to the federal capital if the bill does not become law.
JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza said his party had called a meeting of Ittehadul Madaris, a conglomerate of seminaries representing major schools of thoughts, on Dec. 17 to discuss the issue.
“We will decide the future course of action in that meeting,” he told Arab News. “We hope the government will act responsibly and fulfill its commitments otherwise we will use all avenues, including a march to Islamabad.”
Addressing Monday’s meeting, Director General of Religious Education Ghulam Qamar said 18,600 seminaries had registered with the education ministry since 2019.
“We are also providing teachers to seminaries.” he added, “and this year technical training was provided to 2,500 students of seminaries.”