and Jhelum districts have four such seminaries each; 17 seminaries are under the watch of the LEAs belonging to Gujranwala division wherein seven are in Gujranwala, four in Gujrat, two in Hafizabad and one each located in Sialkot, Narowal and Mandi Bahauddin districts. Bahawalpur division has 15 seminaries in the watch-list in which Rahimyar Khan has six, Bahawalpur five and Bahawalnagar districts have four seminaries.
With 12 such seminaries, Faisalabad division is at the last number in the list. Faisalabad and Jhang districts have four seminaries each whereas Chiniot and Toba Tek Singh districts have two seminaries each in the list.
Declining to be named, a senior official at Punjab Home Department talking to The News said that the law enforcement agencies had sought details of bank accounts of these 186 seminaries from the State Bank of Pakistan. Similarly, he said, they had also sought details about those individuals running the affairs of these seminaries from National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). The official said that National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), CTD Punjab, Punjab Police, Punjab Home Department and premier intelligence agencies of the country had established a strong network in this regard to choke the funding and financiers of these seminaries, if there is any, for ridding the extremism and terrorism off from the country which is a key target of the NAP.
To a question, the official said that dealing firmly with terrorists, zero tolerance for militancy in Punjab, registration and regulation of seminaries, taking effective steps against religious persecution and choking financing for terrorists and terrorist organisations, etc are key targets of the LEAs under the 20-point NAP.
When contacted, Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Allama Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said that government should take action against all such seminaries involved in extremism and terrorism in the country.
“From the day first, we are of the view that the government should take action against those seminaries involved in terrorism and extremism to nip the evil in the bud”, he remarked. However, the PUC chairman made it clear that though they were supporting the government-backed actions since the launch of NAP but would support only evidence-based actions against the seminaries instead of those carried on mere at hearsay. The LEAs should share evidences with us if they have any about involvement of any seminaries in terrorism, he added.
To another question, Tahir Mehmood said that already over 13, 000 seminaries across Punjab were cooperating with the government and its agencies in the ongoing process of their registration.