MMTKH chief praises govt for setting up five new boards for seminaries

LAHORE: Head of newly-created seminaries board for Shia school of thought, Majma-ul-Madaris Taleemul Kitab-wal-Hikmat (MMTKH), and principal of Jamia Urwatul Wusqa (JUW), Allama Syed Jawad Naqvi praised the PTI government for creating five new boards besides the five old ones, terming it a great step towards promoting a healthy standard of education for promoting peace, harmony and progress.

Addressing a press conference Friday, he also lauded the seminaries registration with education ministry, saying it would end the atmosphere of negative propaganda against the seminaries and the pressure of law-enforcing agencies like CTD, which had been looking after their affairs and making unnecessary interventions in their functioning. He said five new boards would promote quality education in religious and contemporary education systems by creating an atmosphere of healthy competition with the previous boards. He said the government had indicated that more such boards would be created in future which would end the monopoly of few personalities over the seminaries affairs despite most of them hardly had a seminary of their own.

He said the offices of Majma-ul-Madaris Taleemul Kitab-wal-Hikmat (MMTKH) would be housed on the premises of the JUW, where at present 1,200 students were enrolled for religious and contemporary degree programmes, including 700 girl students. The JUW, he said, has a technical college under construction, whereas a 50-bed hospital and a library were functional which include a TV channel and a modern printing press.

To a question, he said some elements had threatened the government against interfering with seminaries’ education and management affairs, warning that they would join hands with Maulana Fazlur Rehman if its interference continued. “But we will not join hands with Maulana Fazlur Rehman since he has political objectives. But if the government backed out of its promises of non-interference in seminaries, then our response will be different from that of the political forces,” he added.

He lamented that few seminaries were used for politics, extremism and terrorism in the past, but its consequences were borne by all which compromised the respected status of seminaries. He said now government promised not to meddle in seminaries affairs if those are not used for extremism, sectarianism and terrorism.

He said Jamia Urwatul Wusqa had always promoted the objectives of apolitical education, unity among sects and upholding nationalism. “We believe in education for the sake of education only, without involving in politics, sectarianism, etc.” He praised the armed forces for eliminating the roots of terrorism, and removing the sectarianism atmosphere during Muharram.