President Asif Ali Zardari will promulgate an ordinance for the registration of religious seminaries in the country, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday, quoting sources.
The 24News TV channel reported that the decision, the sources said, had been taken at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s meetings with President Zardari and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and that all stakeholders, including the JUI-F, were taken on board prior to taking the decision.
Sources informed that the ordinance would provide legal cover to Madrassahs under the Directorate General Religious Education and the Society Registration Amendment Act.
On Saturday, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had expressed the hope that the government would approve the Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill 2024, also known as Madrassah Registration Bill, 2024, after fulfilling the legal formalities.
Speaking on a private news TV channel, the JUI-F emir said: "I hope that neither we will need to march on Islamabad nor [the government] will require a joint session."
Fazl's comments came after the government, following a meeting between the prime minister and the JUI-F chief, reportedly "accepted all demands of the Ittehad Tanzeemat-e-Madaris Deenia (ITMD)" regarding the bill.
The government assured to register all madrassas under the Societies Registration Act, 1860".
Fazl said his party had reached an agreement on a few issues, adding that one of the points in the bill was that the status of the registration of madrassahs will remain unchanged.
The other points were that bank accounts of all madrassas would be opened and the students of the seminaries would be issued visas to study abroad.
The senior politician said that the National Assembly had already approved the bill following which the president sent an eight-point objection to the assembly on November 13. "Now there is no justification for calling a joint session on the bill again," Fazl asserted.
The bill, which has already been passed by both houses of parliament, became a bone of contention between the JUI-F and the government after President Zardari returned it to the National Assembly with some objections.
Its enactment was part of an agreement reached between the government and the JUI-F in exchange for supporting the 26th Amendment.
Reporter: Awais Kiani