Exception of madrassa

Following the December 16 attack on Army Public School Peshawar, madrassa reforms is once again one of the major points of discussion in the country’s national action strategy announced by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The twenty-point National Action Plan says that a "system would be evolved for registration of religious seminaries and blocking of fund resources to terrorists". It also maintains that "hate literature and propaganda to promote sectarianism, extremism, and intolerance would not be allowed and effective action would be taken against newspapers and periodicals involved in such practices."

The National Action Plan Committee (NAPC), formed to look into madrassa reforms, has started conducting meetings with the alliances of madrassas of various sects. However, nothing concrete has come out yet.

There have been deliberations on the audit of madrassa funding sources. One of the suggestions includes bringing seminaries under the ministry of education of provinces and their literature to be monitored by the same ministry.

Earlier, it was post- 9/11 situation which forced the then Pakistani president and army chief, Pervez Musharraf, to initiate madrassa reforms. A huge chunk of money was allocated for the purpose. Selective religious seminaries were also provided computer labs to educate madrassa students in a modern way.

An educationist and former Professor at Quaid-i-Azam University, A H Nayyar believes madrassa reforms are not possible in the present situation. Agreeing with the suggestion of prominent scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, he says specialised religious education should be allowed after getting college level education.

"There have been efforts previously, including in the Pervez Musharraf regime but we cannot bring the madrassas in mainstream education by changing its curriculum only," he says.

"Madrassa degree should be allowed as a special subject like medicine and engineering, after at least 12-grade or 16 years of general education."

Nayyar believes "the biggest challenge in carrying out reforms is madrassas themselves because they don’t want to lose their strength and power and they don’t want external intervention."

He says even if a small number of seminaries are involved in creating extremism, this small number is linked to the other more than 25,000 seminaries. "They have support of each other," he adds.

He suggests curriculum reforms in the mainstream education system and training of teachers, too, to uproot the seeds of hatred. "Unless the state takes concrete steps like these, there would no resolve and disappointment would continue."

After the Musharraf regime, former President Asif Ali Zardari also announced to have more control over seminaries but the objective remained unachieved.

Before 2002, the number of registered madrassas in Pakistan was not more than 6,000, according to a report of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Around 13,000 seminaries were registered across the country till 2007. According to the fresh estimates, the number of small and big seminaries of all sects is around 25,000 to 30,000. If all registered and unregistered smaller madrassas are counted, the figure can go beyond 40,000.

Leaders of religious organisations and seminaries alliances, however, seem ready to resist any kind of what they call discriminatory action against religious seminaries. "If there is any particular proof against any seminary the government should disclose it," says Hanif Jalundhary, head of Deoband Wafaqul Madaris.

"The public at large, which donates for seminaries, should also look into these things before giving donation. Also, government should establish contact with seminaries and mosques. Presently, there is no such contact," points out Tahir Ashrafi, member of Council for Islamic Ideology.

He suggests that a dialogue should be started by the government to bring Wafaqul Masajid, Wafaqul Madaris, and Ittehad-e-Tahafuz-e-Madaris-e-Dinia (ITMD) under one platform and make seminary students aware of contemporary issues.

In 2008, the then Prime Minister, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, made an announcement to set up a Madrassa Welfare Authority -- a seminary reforms project under PM’s 100 days programme. The Madrassa Welfare Authority, however, failed to operate. Seminaries refused to enlist and demanded to be registered under the Companies Act, refusing also to provide other required details i.e., number of students, boarders, sources of funding, etc. The government also failed in expatriating foreign students.

Rs1 billion funding, according to official figures, was allocated for introducing subjects, including English in their curriculum, while Rs5.792 billion were allocated to introduce other subjects in madrassas.

"If private schools come under the government’s control, why can’t madrassas? asks Imtiaz Gul, a security analyst. He calls for a national level consultation to review and revise the curricula of seminaries.

He also suggests a policy to register and control mosques. "Many seminaries are generating anti-democracy and anti state narrative but they are not accountable. The state should take notice of all such violations by any group, organisation or individual."

He says unless the leadership becomes the guardian of education and takes responsibility for a curriculum that includes critical thinking and innovation, there would be no betterment. "The state will have to take responsibility and mosques and madrassas are not exceptions at all."

"Is it too much to ask that no child under the age of 16 should ever have to go to a madrassa," says Irfan Muzaffar, an educationist in a recent column.