Fazl rejects govt’s proposals on seminary bill

English , Pakistan - پاکستان , Snippets , / Monday, December 9th, 2024

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Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday rejected any proposed amendments to the madrassa bill by the government, stating that his party is unwilling to accept any of their suggestions. Speaking at a press conference in Charsadda district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Fazlur Rehman said that if the government were to present any amendments, they [JUI-F] would not even consider them. He asserted that the government’s proposals would be rejected outright. Fazlur Rehman also questioned why the President returned the madrassa bill, which had already been approved by the National Assembly and the Senate, with objections. He noted that if the President could sign other bills into law, there should be no reason to send the madrassa bill back with objections. Addressing the government’s claims regarding the affiliation of madrasahs with the Ministry of Education, Fazlur Rehman clarified that the bill provides madrasahs with complete autonomy to affiliate with any federal institution, whether under the 1860 Act or the Ministry of Education. The JUI-F chief also expressed concerns about attempts to create divisions among religious scholars and madrasas over the bill. He stressed that there was consensus among all scholars and madrasahs regarding the bill. He mentioned that a significant meeting, called by Mufti Taqi Usmani and the president of the Federation of Madrassahs, is scheduled for December 17, where a unified decision on the bill will be made. Fazlur Rehman advised the government not to politicise the matter, as the issue is about law and regulation. He criticised the government’s attempt to bring madrasahs under an executive order, which he described as an attempt to control them. A day earlier, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has warned that if his party decides to march to the federal capital, the bullets of opponents may run out, but his party’s resolve will not waver. “We are not mummy-daddy types to flee. Those in uniform and agencies should listen and stop threatening us. Stay within your limits; no one is tougher than us,” he asserted. He said his party had been deceived, defrauded, and betrayed about the religious seminaries’ bill. “The agreement has been violated. This is not a government of the people, but of the establishment. We are not the ones rejecting Pakistan’s ideology?the ‘establishment’ is. You have chosen a path to destroy and dismantle Pakistan, a country to which you have contributed neither its creation nor its preservation.”