LAHORE: According to Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the vice-chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), the disagreement over the bill that would alter the seminary registration procedure could intensify further and contribute to the nation’s political instability.
These worries were voiced by Mr. Qureshi, who is currently detained at Kot Lakhpat Jail, in an open letter headlined “Registration of seminaries — a self-inflicted wound,” which Dawn was given access to on Sunday.
According to the letter, JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman is demanding that the 26th constitutional amendment and the recently enacted bill by both houses of parliament receive presidential assent.
Nevertheless, a few government ministers and a few Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) members had begun to express their disapproval of the contentious bill.
He claims that at the conference organized by a group of ulema, a unanimous resolution was passed requesting that the federal government uphold the current Madressah registration system.
He claimed that during the conference, MQM-P member Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui had stated that his party did not approve of the 2019 agreement’s rollback. When the ministry of law reviewed and approved the proposed draft, he questioned whether it was aware of the 2019 legislation. “If that is the case, then the question arises, why did his party vote for the bill introduced by the government?” he said.
Mr. Qureshi claims that President Asif Ali Zardari pointed out certain problems with the legislation and returned it to the parliament without his approval. He claims that Maulana Fazl “succeeded” in reaching an agreement after spending five hours persuading the PPP and PML-N leaderships at Jati Umra in front of the law minister.
When the revision of a groundbreaking legislation was made, Mr. Qureshi questioned, “Why were the flaws being pointed out at this stage, which were not tabled and discussed with the JUI-F?”
Since 2019, more than 18,000 seminaries have been registered, according to the former foreign minister’s letter. The four stigmas mentioned by Allama Jawad Naqvi are assumed to be absent from the recognized seminaries, he said.
According to Mr. Qureshi, Maulana Fazal Rahim correctly noted that politics should not be involved in seminaries. He claims that when the administration came to an agreement with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, they ought to have been aware of this.
He claims that the situation has become even more complex as a result of both Houses of Parliament voting in favor of the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act 2024 and President Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif endorsing Maulana Fazalur Rehman’s bill.
Mr. Qureshi, who is upset by the government’s reversal, claims Maulana Fazlur Rehman had threatened to unveil a “plan of action” on December 17 (tomorrow).
However, he asserts that the fact that an agreement was reached to place the seminaries under the administrative jurisdiction of the federal education department after three years of consultation with the five created boards still stands.
A major factor in the 2019 deal was Pakistan’s wish to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list.
