Seminary registration scheme gathers dust

7,000 out of 9,000 madrassas in Sindh have been partially registered

KARACHI: The original scheme to register madrassas (seminaries) in Sindh is in the doldrums, as neither the provincial nor federal government implemented the apex committee's decision to regularise the same. During the meeting, chaired by the home minister on Monday, officials said there was no update on the matter. "The first apex committee meeting held in February, 2015 had stressed the need to regularise seminaries in the province because most madrassas play the role of hatcheries for extremist elements, but all in vain," a senior official in the home department told The Express Tribune.

There are total 9,000 seminaries in the province, out of which 7,000 have been partially verified. “The Sindh government has also finished its homework by geo-tagging around 7,000 madrassas to monitor their activities, but no one monitors them because of the federal government's hindrance," an official said, referring to a meeting at Governor House last year where Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had stopped the provincial government form taking action and suggested a joint exercise by the Sindh and federal governments on the issue

"Please wait, it is a sensitive issue. We will jointly work on regularisation of seminaries and action against those that are illegal," said a provincial official to the meeting, adding that with the passage of time seminaries are growing in Tharparkar, Thatta, Larkana, Shikarpur, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Badin and Khairpur districts without proper checks.



"The government has recently found 80 ghost seminaries that collect funds, but don't work on the ground. Many seminaries are being built even on government land and main roads, but no one takes action," an official said, adding that this issue will also be raised during the apex committee meeting to be held today (Tuesday).

The home minister’s spokesperson said the apex committee's decision will be implemented and action will be taken against illegally built seminaries.

"Today, all divisional commissioners were asked to identify such seminaries built illegally on state or private lands so that we can initiate the legal process," the spokesperson said. He said the home minister has directed the divisional commissioners to streamline the issue in consultation with police and other law enforcement agencies. "No new seminary should be allowed to be constructed without a valid NOC and due legal formalities" he quoted the minister as saying.