Punjab law enforcement agencies have been directed to strictly monitor seminaries in the province, particularly those with foreign students and who have connections with jihadi and sectarian groups. Sources said the instructions came from the Federal Interior Ministry on September 27. âThere are around 500 foreign students in Lahore alone and we have been directed to strictly monitor the seminaries and their students,â said a law enforcement official. âWe have not received an order to start an operation against the seminaries, but there might be raids on seminaries involved in sectarian and militant activities, including ones that promote terrorism and provide refuge to suspected terrorists,â he said.
| "But there probably won't be..." |
According to official reports, there are 310 foreign students in the four major seminaries of Lahore: 100 in Jamia Ashrafia, 100 in Jamia Rehmania, 90 in Jamia Muntazeer and 20 in Jamia Naeemia. There are an estimated 200 foreign students in other seminaries, and many of them have not submitted permission letters from their foreign offices. Sources said there were 10 Lahore seminaries for which âspecial directionsâ had been received. These reported seminaries are Jamia Manzoorul Islamia, Jamia Madnia, Jamia Bilal, Jamia Farooq-e-Azam, Jamia Ashrafia, Jamia Rehmania, Jamia Nomania, Jamia Muhammadia, Tableegi Markaz Raiwind and a Jamaat ud-Dawa seminary in Gawalmandi. |