JUI-F out to defend its vote bank – madrassas

Karachi
After receiving government assurances that excessive harassment of religious seminaries, their students and affiliated Ulemas would be curbed, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has changed the theme of their protest rally scheduled for May 1, The News learnt on Wednesday.
To pressure the Sindh government into stopping the crackdown against madrassas, the JUI-F had planned a ‘Tahafuz-e-Dini Madaris’ rally on Friday (tomorrow) from Sohrab Goth to the CM House.
However, a JUI-F delegation led by Allama Rashid Mehmood Soomro, the party’s provincial secretary general, met CM Qaim Ali Shah on Tuesday and was assured that their reservations would be addressed.
After the meeting, the party leaders decided to rename the rally and have gone with two titles; ‘Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat’ and ‘Tahafuz-e-Harmain Sharifain’. A venue for the rally, however, was yet to be finalised by the party.
The JUI-F had already organized protest rallies in Sukkar on February 26 and in Hyderabad on April 2 against the government’s actions against the seminaries.
Qari Muhammad Usman, the JUI-F Sindh deputy chief who was also part of the delegation that met CM Shah, told The News that the provincial government was only disseminating negative propaganda against madrassas, but had also sealed over 500 seminaries in the rural parts of the province on flimsy grounds.
However, he added, some of them had been reopened after consulting government officials.
“After holding protest rallies in Sukkur on February 26 and in Hyderabad on April 2, the one on May 1 will be our third protest in the province,” he said.
“This will compel the government to stop harassing clerics and sealing madrassas on the pretext of the ongoing crackdown against terrorism.”
Usman said the JUI-F leadership had clearly told government officials, including chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, that the party would cooperate with the law enforcement agencies in providing details and taking action against madrassas involved in suspicious activities.

Data forms distributed
The law enforcement agencies have recently redistributed new forms for collecting data about the teachers, students and managements of the madrassas in the city, The News has learnt.
“We have been collecting information about all registered and unregistered madrassa and the details of the teachers and students there - both local and foreigners - and the seminaries’ financial assets,” said an official at the police’s special branch requesting anonymity.
However, he admitted that because of the immense population of the city, it was very difficult to collect data about all madrassas, especially the recently established ones in the suburban parts of the city.
He said for the first time, the government would have a proper record of seminaries and their teachers and students.
“We have also been asking details of the students who have arrived in the city from other parts of the country,” the official said
Madrassa teachers, while talking to The News, confirmed that the special branch and Rangers had recently distributed the forms. They said the forms sought needless details including information about their family.
A delegation of the Wafaqul Madaris Al-Arabia and the JUI-F separately met with the Rangers director general, the IGP and the special branch DIG to discuss the issue of the forms.
Usman, who led the delegations, said Rangers and special branch personnel had distributed lengthy forms and most of the questions were irrelevant.
“In the meetings, we convinced the Rangers and police authorities to introduce new forms,” he added. “The special branch has distributed new forms while Rangers will replace the old ones soon.”

JUI-F and madrassas
The JUI-F is one of the leading Islamist political parties in Pakistan and primarily functions as an electoral party where success in elections, no matter how limited, provides the party with the opportunity to form governments at the provincial level as well as have a presence in the federal cabinet.
Experts believe that much of the party’s support derives from its connections to the madrassas of the Wafaqul Madaris Al-Arabia, a federation of madrassas of the Deobandi school of thought.
The Deobandi madrassas provide political, social and financial support, as well as manpower to the JUI-F.
It is the key reason why the party always remains in the forefront to stop intervention in matters related to madrassas, said a political analyst.
Usman said the JUI-F was not responsible for of all madrassas. “Eighty percent of Deobandi madrassas affiliated with the Wafaq-ul Madaris Al-Arabia are associated with the JUI-F and we can guarantee that they are not involved in any subversive activities,” he added.