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Pakistan's Registration of Religious Schools Hits Snags
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Administrator of religious school submits registration form to government official in Peshawar. (Reuters)
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Umer
Farooq, IOL Correspondent
ISLAMABAD,
August 25, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Pakistani government's
decision to start registering religious schools across the country hit
snags on Thursday, August 25, as the powerful Wafaq-ul-Madaris has
refused to cooperate with the drive unless some clauses from the
registration forms are removed.
A
spokesman for the Wafaq-ul-Madaris, the oldest organization of
madrasahs in Pakistan, said they would not take part in the
registration process unless the clause relating to disclosing the
source of fund is removed from the form.
He
told a press conference Thursday that a meeting of madrasahs leaders
will be convened in the city of Karachi next week to chalk out a
strategy.
Pakistani
authorities began Wednesday, August 24, registering thousands of
Islamic schools across the country.
Wakil
Ahmed Khan, the secretary of the Religious Affairs Ministry and the
architect of the registration process, said they have distributed 9500
forms among various religious seminaries through out the country.
He
added that the registration process of each madrasah will be completed
within one week of the submission of the application form.
President
Pervez Musharraf last week promulgated a law requiring madrasahs to
register by the end of this year.
Under
the law, every Deeni Madrassa shall submit annual report of its
activities and performance to the government designated registrar and
shall also maintain accounts of its actual expenses and receipts and
annually submit its report to the registrar.
There
are around 12,000 madrasahs in Pakistan, often offering free religious
education and board for more than one million Pakistani children,
especially in areas neglected by state education services.
Around
6,000 madrasahs had already registered with authorities in the past
two years.
Teaching
What?
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Pakistan's religious schools have been under mounting pressures since the London July 7 attacks. (Reuters)
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Khan
said the distributed forms seeking information on the number of
teachers and students and details of their income and expenditure of
each madrasah.
The
forms also urge madrasahs to refrain from teaching or publication of
literature promoting militancy or sectarian hatred.
Government
officials said that registration process is meant to closely monitor
the working of madrasahs.
Pressures
have been mounting on religious schools in Pakistan since the July 7
terrorist attacks in London carried out by four British Muslims,
including three of Pakistani origin.
Police
said one of the bombers, Shehzad Tanweer, visited a religious school
during trips to Pakistan in the past two years, a claim refuted by the
madrasah in question.
British
Prime Minister Tony Blair has urged Pakistan to move against
"radical" madrasahs.
Days
later, President Musharraf decided to expel all foreign students
studying in religious schools across the country.
He
also ordered the authority not to issue any visas in the future for
foreigners seeking to study in Pakistani madrasahs.
Dialogue
Minister
of Religious Affairs, Ejaz-ul-Haq, said the new law, under which the
registration process is taking place, was enacted after successful
talks with the madrasahs leaders.
During
the last month, the government engaged the leaders of madrasahs in
intense dialogue with the view to reform the religious education
system.
The
officials of Tanzeem-ul-Madarassh, a body of religious institutions,
has pledged to cooperate with the government efforts to register the
religious seminaries.
The
government has embarked upon the registration process as part of the
reform process of madrasah education system.
So
far there has been no public protest in relation with the registration
of madrasahs.
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