Registration of madaris begins in Pakistan
Pakistan Times National News Desk

ISLAMABAD: The police have launched a campaign to register madaris in Islamabad, which will be completed by December this year, officials said on Monday.

Officials said that police in Islamabad have been given forms to collect details about heads and students in the madaris.

The forms say that policemen will collect necessary information and will return the forms to police chief by Tuesday. These will later be sent to the Interior Ministry.

Last month, President General Pervez Musharraf, in a televised address to the nation, had ordered registration of all madaris by December. He had also asked some 1400 foreign students in religious schools to leave the country even if they have valid visas.

The forms also seek information about land of madaris, occupation of land, no-objection certificate from the government, sect, names and addresses of organizers, teachers and students, nationality of the students and date of foundation.

Secretary of alliance of religious schools “Ittehad-e-Tanzeemat-e-Madaris” Hanif Jhalandhry has asked the government to approach the alliance if it needs information about the seminaries.

He said alliance of the schools had all the details. He said he was surprised that under which power information about madaris was being collected in Islamabad.

Jhalandhry said that ministries of Interior and religious affairs had already collected information about seminaries but the government had adopted a new procedure to collect information.

MMA to raise Voice

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Secretary General MMA and Chief of Jamiat Ullamah-e-Islam Maulana Fazlur Rehman said in Lahore on Monday that his party would raise its voice inside and outside the Parliament on the issue of 1400 foreign madressah students, who face expulsion.

Talking to the MMA leaders, Maulana Fazal ur Rehman said conventions and protest programmes will be held all over the country to take the masses into confidence on the issue of foreign students.

He said academic year of most of the foreign students will be completed this year. As such they should not be sent back to their home countries with incomplete studies, which he said, is a gross violation of human rights. He posed the question as to why champions of human rights and democracy were silent on the issue.

Regarding Hasba Bill, the Maulana said his party would form line of action following the decision by the Apex court.

MMA Secretary General also called upon the workers of the alliance to, what he described as; "foil governments tactics and ensure MMA victory in the LB polls".●