were the seats of the teaching Holy Quran and the Hadith.
It said the mosques and the seminaries had been functioning in the region for centuries in the prevailing form and with present curriculum and were promoting Islamic values and brotherhood, while disseminating religious knowledge and information in the society. Stating that the seminaries had nothing to do with terrorism or extremism in the country, the declaration said out of those charged with terrorism or those sentenced by the courts on the charges of terrorism, only a few were related to them.
It said the responsibility of any terrorist act of an individual having past link with a seminary could not be placed on the seminaries in general, and there was no justification for the resultant propaganda.
The declaration declared that any unlawful or immoral measure against the seminaries or the mosques would be countered with full force. It said Pakistan had come into being in the name of Islam and as such the struggle for building the country into a true Islamic and welfare state would continue.
The meeting demanded that the reference made to the seminaries in the National Action Plan and the official ads be dropped. It also demanded that seminaries should also be included in the list of educational institutions receiving government grants. Talking to media, Siraj said it was a matter of shame that poisonous propaganda had been unleashed against the seminaries at the instigation of the West and the secular lobby, which aimed at keeping the humanity away from Islam. He said any action against the mosques and the seminaries under the cover of terrorism would not be allowed. He demanded including the representative religious leaders of seminaries in the action plan and any decision regarding the seminaries should be taken with their consultation.
Siraj said the seminaries were not allowed to open bank accounts and the State Bank was not taking any decision on their request on the issue.
The declaration noted that most of the seminaries were already registered. It welcomed the seminaries’ registration in line with the formula already decided by the government and the seminaries’ body.