Seminary affiliated with Lal Masjid sealed by Punjab police

Move part of a crackdown against hate material being distributed by seminaries, senate panel told

ISLAMABAD: The Punjab police chief informed a senate panel on Wednesday that law enforcement agencies have sealed a seminary affiliated with the controversial Lal Masjid in the Rujhan area of the province.

Addressing the Senate Standing Committee on Privileges,  IG Police Punjab Mushtaq Sukhera said the seminary was sealed last week because it was training students for jihad and spreading hate material. The panel, headed by Senator Tahir Mashadi, was discussing the issue of foreign funding to seminaries.

The inspector-general informed the panel that they have rounded up the cleric and teachers running the seminary and have sealed its library.

Read: 400 foreign students studying in Punjab seminaries to be deported: Shahbaz Sharif

The move comes as part of a crackdown against hate material being distributed by seminaries. Sukhera told the Senate panel that the police is conducting further investigation into other seminaries affiliated with Lal Masjid in Rahimyar Khan, Rajanpur and tribal areas of Dera Ghazi Khan division.

The police official said that in order to carry out the crackdown on the seminary, they took aid from the federal government.

Read: Punjab police disclosure: 1,000 madrassas foreign-funded

The senate panel expressed concerns over Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz over his comments on the Islamic state. They asked the government to look into how he is not following state orders pertaining to the spread of hate speech.

A spokesperson of Lal Masjid has maintained that cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz will neither surrender to the police. Civil society activists though have repeatedly called for the arrest of Aziz.

Read: Controversial cleric: Civil society wants Aziz behind bars

Futhermore, the Punjab police also told the panel that 147 seminaries are taking foreign funding.

On February 10, the Punjab police has also formally conceded before a Senate panel that seminaries were receiving foreign funding, as it sought help of the country’s top investigation agency—Federal Investigation Agency—to obtain actionable data for kicking off crackdown against the beneficiaries.

Read: Punjab police tells Senate panel seminaries are receiving foreign funding, but have little proof