DI Khan: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that the Presidency objected to the Madrasa Bill after a month and a half, while if there is no objection within ten days, it becomes an act. We claim that the bill has been legally approved. Why is the government not issuing a gazette notification?
While holding a press conference in DI Khan, he said that there were hours of meetings with Asif Zardari and Bilawal, a consensus was reached on the Madrasa Bill in the presence of Shahbaz Sharif, the Law Ministry prepared its draft and we accepted it. The PML-N and PPP were involved in its preparation, so what is the justification for Asif Zardari’s objection to this bill now?
He said that state institutions were present in all these things, they were involved in all the stages, they knew every word of this bill, why is it being made controversial now, why is a dispute being raised with the Federation of Religious Schools and the Federation of Religious Schools, we have no quarrel with them, they are shouting at the behest of those who prepared the draft and should it be affiliated with the Ministry of Education or the Society Act, he raised this new question.
Fazlur Rehman said that before the elections, the government had prepared the draft and we had made concessions in it that the madrasa should be affiliated with the Society Act or the Ministry of Education, although we have reservations about it, why were new madrasa organizations formed? Didn’t the institutions have a hand in dividing these madrasa organizations? I request the scholars that the people who called and incited you and you opened a front on their instructions are the ones responsible for this, who are you fighting with? Neither do we have any quarrel with the scholars nor are we a party against you.
He said that the draft of the Madrasa Bill was prepared by the government itself, which was accepted despite reservations. Why did you separate from us? Why did you break the Madrasa organizations? Why did you go to another board? We want to be associated with a law in which numerous charitable organizations, NGOs, educational institutions have been registered under the same act under 1860 till today, why is a question being raised only for religious madrasas?
He said that we do not deny the importance of the agreement, but the agreement cannot compete with the act. Today you have brought amendments to the act, which we accepted, while you broke the agreement in which it was written that the madrasas whose registration has been done will be maintained. The government will cooperate with those madrasas who want to be registered. Their bank accounts will be opened. Those who are students abroad will be given a nine-year visa here, but not a single bank account has been opened nor has any student been given a visa. All three clauses have been violated.
The JUI chief said that we did not make any mistake, the Presidency is responsible, the President can send objections twice to an approved bill, if the President does not send objections to any bill within ten days, it becomes an act, while the President raised objections after one and a half months, we claim that the act has been made, the President has sent one objection which was removed and now before raising the second objection after one and a half months, it has become an act because he did not sign it within the constitutional period.
Maulana said that earlier this had happened during the tenure of former President Arif Alvi, so the government had issued a gazette notification as soon as ten days passed and now why did the government and the law ministry not do so? Why do state institutions and rulers and responsible people push the country towards crises? We want legal work, the government and state institutions have also made the bill and the scholars have been incited by people.
He announced that if we have to go to court on this issue, we will approach the court. First, we want to see the meeting of the Madrasa Deeniya on the 17th and then take a decision.
He said that our experience is that the government has ended religious education in the madrasas it took over. This is in front of everyone. Therefore, we are not in favor of bringing the madrasas under any directorate.
