ISLAMABAD: Pir Syed Saeed ul Hassan, Punjab Minister for Religious Affairs, has told Arab News that the government is exploring options to extend the visas of foreign students enrolled in religious seminaries, who have overstayed in the country.

“We will see if visas of these students can be extended without deporting them,” he said.

The minister’s comments come in response to reports in the local media earlier this week that the government plans to deport foreign students studying in religious seminaries in Pakistan, whose visa durations had expired.

The minister said Pakistan should be proud of the fact that “it is imparting religious education to students of different countries like our students go abroad to seek education ... We should not discourage the foreign madrasa students by creating bureaucratic hurdles for them.”

The religious affairs minister said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education were looking into the issue.

Sources inside the Punjab cabinet told Arab News, on the condition of anonymity, that officials have identified 375 foreign students in Punjab province who have overstayed their visa permission in the country.

Pir Syed Saeed ul Hassan confirmed these claims and told Arab News that a screening of the madrasa students was carried out across the province before the start of the sacred month of Muharram.

However, Amir Rana, security analyst and director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, said screening of madrasa students is a routine task due to prevalent law and order in Pakistan and across the region.

“Afghan students studying in different madrasas are often suspected as potential militants and our security agencies keep tracking them,” he told Arab News.

“There is no evidence of any large-scale foreign madrasa students’ involvement in terrorist activities in Pakistan,” he added.

Rana said foreign madrasa students should be a strength for Pakistan if they are allowed to study in the country through a well-prescribed legal procedure. “Occasional raids on madrasas and deportation of a few foreign students cannot be an alternative to a well-defined policy for overseas students and a proper study visa system,” he said.

In September 2012, the Ministry of Interior informed the National Assembly that 2,673 foreign students from 37 countries are studying in Pakistani madrasas.