Fazl urges govt to avoid politicising seminaries’ issue

Jamiat Ulema Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday asked the government to avoid politicizing the issue of madrasas. Addressing a press conference, he asserted that the struggle for the independence of madrasas is the collective cause of all scholars and religious institutions. He condemned the efforts to create division among the scholars and emphasized the importance of preserving religious education including Quranic sciences, jurisprudence and hadith.Rehman accused the institutions of interfering in the madrassa registration bill, which was earlier passed by consensus. On Monday, an important meeting was held in Islamabad regarding the registration and reforms of Madrasahs. Addressing the participants, Director General of Religious Education Ghulam Qamar said that it is a unanimous decision that all schools of thought will register themselves with the Directorate General of Religious Education. Madrasahs in the education of children of poor sections of the societyAcknowledging the role, the Director General said that 18,600 madrasas have registered themselves. “We are also providing teachers to madrasas. We have provided technical training to 2500 students of madrasas,” he said. He said that religious scholars of all schools of thought also participated in the meeting. Federal Minister of Information Ataullah Tarar, Minister of Religious Affairs Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Minister of Education Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and Chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi also spoke. .