ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari hurried to meet with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday after receiving harsh warnings from the JUI-F leadership on the president’s tardiness in enacting the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2024.
Senior JUI-F members told the media that they had been promised that President Asif Ali Zardari will sign the measure shortly, despite Mr. Bhutto-Zardari’s lack of public reaction. Nevertheless, they pointed out that the modified statute, which had previously been approved by both houses, was being opposed by certain powers.
Around 8:30 p.m., the two-hour meeting between the top JUI-F and PPP officials came to an end.
The Senate approved the madressah registration bill in October of this year, but the JUI-F delegation, which included Senators Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Kamran Murtaza, Haji Ghulam Ali, Maulana Lutfur Rehman, and Asad Mahmood, reportedly voiced serious concerns about the delay in signing the bill.
After the meeting, Maulana Haideri told reporters that she was disappointed that the president had not signed the law sooner. He questioned, “The president is putting off signing the bill, but is it possible for him to protest and not sign it?”
The president will sign the Madressah registration measure, according to JUI-F.
Although it was stated that the president is a member of the PPP, he emphasized that the president represents the federation and is not associated with any political party.
Maulana Haideri stated, “The PPP promised today (Wednesday) that the president will sign the bill for madressah registration.” She did not name any specific person or authority, but added that the measure’s enactment was being hampered by outside forces.
The disputed bill was a component of a 26th Amendment support agreement between the government and JUI-F. The Societies Registration Act, 1860 is extended by the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2024, which also contains provisions for “Deeni Madaris” to be registered with the appropriate deputy commissioner office.
According to the bill, a madressah with many campuses only needs to register once, and each madressah is required to provide the registrar with an annual report detailing its educational endeavors. Every madressah also needs to have an auditor audit its accounts and send the audit report to the registrar. Additionally, according to the bill, no madressah should print or teach any book that incites religious hatred, sectarianism, or militancy.
The PTI-led administration moved seminary registration to the education departments in October 2019.
The federal government agreed to religious groups’ demands that seminaries be governed as educational institutions under the purview of the education departments after more than five years of discussions involving the government, interior ministry, security agencies, provinces, and non-governmental organizations.
At first, authorities had suggested that the interior ministry and provincial home departments should regulate seminaries. The combined body of religious seminaries, which represents all four of the nation’s major Islamic sects, applauded the 2019 PTI-led government’s move.
However, JUI-F-affiliated seminaries resisted integrating conventional education into religious seminaries and rejected the concept of placing madressahs under the education department due to political disputes with the PTI government.
