Govt, ITMD agree on seminary reforms

ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan and the Ittehad-i-Tanzeemat-i-Madaris-i-Deenia (ITMD) have reached an agreement on the registration form of seminaries and formation of religious seminary boards.
Sources said an important meeting was held between representatives of the government and the ITMD. Religious Affairs Secretary Sohail Amir, chief of Wafaqul Madaris Ahle-Sunnat Mufti Munibur Rehman, Secretary General Wafaqul Madaris Al-Arabia Pakistan Qari Hanif Jalandhari, Wafaqul Madaris Ahle-Tashi head Qazi Niaz Hussain Naqvi, Waseem Zafar of Wafaqul Madaris Ahle Hadith and Maulana Abdul Malik of Wafaqul Madaris Al-Arabia Salfia participated in the meeting, that reached an agreement for seminary reforms project.
The religious scholars have demanded of the government to differentiate between mosque-school and seminaries, saying the latter issue certificates as per the programs while the former does not have proper education system. They also asked the government to form an authority regarding registration of seminaries and any security agency should contact it for data.
On foreign funding to seminaries, the ulema said they were ready to come into mainstream and adopt monitoring system, claiming that schedule banks do not open accounts of seminaries.
Sources said the government and the ITMD agreed on establishing boards of the religious seminaries and five boards will be established after legislation from parliament. The ulema also agreed on deporting illegal students of seminaries.