By By Shamim Bano
The stay of thousands of foreign students studying at madrassahs in the country is under threat again, now that the visa policy has reportedly been tightened by the government of Pakistan. The step is attributed to what officials referred to as “increasing terrorist activity” in the country.
Insiders commenting on the step said that foreign students going back home during winter vacation would not be issued visas. Moreover, the visas od students whose term was expiring would also not be extended.
This has caused anxiety among students, because they will then be penalised for overstaying in the country. The government, officials said, was under immense pressure from the US to get the “madressah issue” resolved. The US government is of the view that Islamic clerics in Pakistan are the main source of disturbances, especially in tribal areas.
The Sheikh-ul-Hadis and administrator of Binnoria University International, Mufti Mohammed Naeem said, however, that Pakistan was identified as an Islamic country only because of religious seminaries and Ulema. In his view, madressahs build character and provide education in order to make students good human beings.
He also refuted the allegation levelled by Interior Minister Rahman Malik wherein the latter had blamed madressahs for terrorism. He said that the present government was continuing the policy of the previous one.
Naeem also requested that the government soften the visa policy for foreign students. Thousands of foreign students studying at madressahs are a lucrative source of revenue, and are an honour for the country, because they return to their countries as Pakistan’s ambassadors, Naeem maintained.