Pak seminaries would remain independent of official influence: Clerics

Pakistani clerics resist government control over seminaries, sparking controversy over registration bill and autonomy of religious education.

Pakistani clerics made it clear to the government that their seminaries would remain independent of official influence by not becoming part of government department, a departure from the stance adopted by them in 2019.

In 2019, traditional madrassas boards had agreed to cede some control to the Federal Education Ministry.

The Ittehad Tanzeemat-i-Madaris Pakistan, a representative body of seminaries run by clerics belonging to different sects of Islam, made the announcement after a meeting on Tuesday (December 17, 2024).

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A joint delegation of clerics called on Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) at his residence in Islamabad to throw their weight behind him in the current controversy of a bill regarding registration of madrassas.

The JUI-F leader is pressing the government to issue a gazette notification for the Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill 2024, which would roll back the 2019 agreement and make the district administration the authority to carry out registration of seminaries.

Dawn reported that the joint delegation by the clerics represented madrassas boards belonging to the Barelvi, Deobandi, Shia and Ahle Hadith schools of thought, while the fifth board belonged to seminaries under the control of the Jamaat-i-Islami.