Government warned against crackdown on seminaries
PESHAWAR: The Wafaqul Madaris, the board that oversees seminaries of the Deobandi school of thought, on Wednesday warned it would agitate if the government cracked down on seminaries.
Wafaqul Madaris provincial nazim Maulana Hussain Ahmad told a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club that the federal government itself was a major hurdle to the registration of seminaries in the country.
He warned rallies would be staged if the government didn’t end anti-seminary moves.
Ahmad said the Wafaqul Madaris had planned to hold a congregation on Dec 12 in Peshawar, where its president, Maulana Saleemullah, general secretary Qari Hafiz Jalandari and religious scholars Mufti Mohammad Rafi Usmani and Maulana Noorul Haq would be in attendance.
He said the participants would decide the future course of action for the protection of seminaries.
The Wafaqul Madaris provincial nazim said seminaries were bound by rules to register themselves with the government but not only they’re denied registration but also they’re threatened with crackdown.
He demanded strict action against the officials hindering the implementation of the rules on seminary registration.
Ahmad said certain quarters were defaming seminaries at the behest of western powers.
He said the children getting education in seminaries were Pakistani children and that linking seminaries to terrorism was just not right.
“Wafaqul Madaris is capable of foiling all conspiracies against seminaries. The government will not succeed in its mission of acting against seminaries on the dictation of foreign masters,” he said, adding that no one can shut seminaries.
The Wafaqul Madaris provincial nazim said all those linked to seminaries believed in Islam, peace and country’s stability and development and were ready to render all possible sacrifices for the motherland.
He said the Wafaqul Madaris was the largest board of its kind in the country as more than 18,500 seminaries, including 4,700 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, were registered with it.
Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2015