Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has issued a warning to the ruling coalition, asserting that no one can prevent their potential long march to Islamabad. The decision will be finalized during a Tanzeem Ittehadul Madaris meeting scheduled for December 17.
Rehman’s remarks came just before the expiration of the JUI-F’s December 8 deadline for the approval of the seminary registration bill. He emphasized that the Ittehadul Madaris meeting, representing various schools of thought, will adopt a unanimous stance on the bill.
He criticized the government, pointing out that the Senate and National Assembly passed the bill with allied consensus, but it was returned by President Asif Ali Zardari due to concerns about education being a provincial subject. Rehman condemned the president’s objections, describing them as malicious, and questioned whether participants were prepared for a march.
The JUI-F chief clarified that the bill allowed seminaries to affiliate without coming under the Ministry of Education. However, attempts had been made to place them under the ministry through a new directorate. Rehman expressed frustration over the perceived discrimination between traditional and modern education, stating, “Knowledge is knowledge.”
He also accused the government of pressuring seminaries and imposing unwanted reforms under the guise of mainstreaming them, which he claimed amounted to declaring a “war” on religious institutions.
Meanwhile, Religious Affairs Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain acknowledged the long-standing need for seminary registration. He confirmed that both houses of Parliament had approved the bill, aligning seminaries under the education ministry. Hussain highlighted that 18,000 seminaries were already registered through a one-window operation at the Directorate General of Religious Education.
