Will take up madrasas bill signing with govt, Bilawal assures Fazl

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) Ameer Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday and assured him that he would take up the issue of madrasa registration bill signing with the government.

Bilawal visited the residence of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, along with former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and senior PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira. The Maulana was assisted by Senator Kamran Murtaza, Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Maulana Lutafur Rehman, Maulana Asad Mehmood and former governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Ghulam Ali.

The meeting discussed the country’s political situation. Fazl expressed concerns over the president not signing the madrasa registration bill. He said despite approval of the bill from both houses of parliament, it was still not signed by the president. Bilawal promised that he would talk to the government if the madrasa registration bill was not signed.

On the other hand, JUI leader Hafiz Hamdullah said the madrasa registration bill was a part of the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill but it was stopped at the President House.

“Let us know why president of Pakistan is not signing the Madrasa Registration Bill,” he added.

He said the PPP and Bilawal Bhutto were on board until it was passed by both the houses. Then what was the obstacle? Is the President House, which is hindering the bill, supreme than parliament, he asked. He suggested that Bilawal Bhutto should talk to his father and play a role as it was a matter of supremacy of parliament. Otherwise, Maulana Fazlur Rehman would be forced to take action, he added.

Later, talking to the media after the meeting, Senator Kamran Murtaza said they had a good meeting over a cup of tea. He said President Asif Ali Zardari was not the president of PPP but the State. He said Bilawal supported the JUI stance on registration of madrassas and signing of the bill. Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri told the media the PPP leaders promised to address the JUI concerns.

It should be noted that the other day, Maulana Fazlur Rehman had said if the government did not sign the madrasa bill by December 7, they would give the future plan of action in Peshawar on December 8.