Fazlur Rehman claims madrassa bill approved despite President Zardari's objections

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has claimed that the Madrassa Registration Bill has been legally approved, despite objections raised by President Asif Ali Zardari after a delay of over a month.

Speaking at a press conference in Dera Ismail Khan on Thursday, Rehman criticised the presidential objections, arguing that the bill would have automatically become law if not opposed within 10 days.

He said that the bill had already gone through all the necessary stages with the participation of state institutions, including drafting by the Ministry of Law and agreements made in meetings with PPP leaders President Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto.

He questioned the basis of objections raised by the president at this stage, especially since the process involved significant input from all parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the PPP.

"The draft was prepared by the government before the elections, and we accepted it despite our reservations. Why are you distancing yourselves now?" he said. "Why did you create new organisations for religious seminaries? Were state institutions involved in dividing these organisations?" he asserted.

The JUI-F chief further stated that while the government had created the draft for the bill, certain groups had deliberately created a divide among seminaries. He stressed that there was no issue between his party and religious scholars, nor was there any dispute with religious seminaries themselves.

“The people who incited and encouraged you to protest are responsible for this situation,” he said.

He also criticised the lack of implementation of provisions made in the agreement with the government, particularly the failure to open bank accounts for seminaries or grant visas for foreign students. "The government has violated the terms of the agreement," he added.

He claimed that the president’s objections were legally irrelevant after the 10-day period, citing the precedent set during the tenure of former President Arif Alvi, who had allowed a bill to pass once the deadline passed without objections.

"The president has delayed his objections for more than a month, and now the bill should be considered law," he said.

If the matter is not resolved, Rehman announced that his party would take legal action and approach the courts. He also confirmed that JUI would convene a meeting of religious seminaries on December 17 to discuss their next course of action.

Fazl concluded by warning against any attempt to place religious seminaries under direct government control, as he claimed previous government actions had led to a decline in religious education. "We do not want seminaries to be governed by any Directorate," he concluded.