| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Pakistanâs madrassas agree to register |
| 2005-09-23 |
| ISLAMABAD - Pakistanâs controversial madrassas agreed on Friday to register with the government by the end of the year after coming under pressure following the July 7 London bombings, an official said. President Pervez Musharraf invited the seminaries for talks earlier this week about his recent order that the countryâs estimated 14,000 Islamic schools register by the end of the year or face closure. Hardliners had opposed the measures but changed their mind during a meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and a delegation from the Federation of Madrassas Organisation, a senior government official told AFP. Aziz said the decision to register was good for Pakistan and for the seminaries themselves, adding that it would help bring the controversial schools into the educational mainstream. âTheir teachings are not related to violence or any activity prejudicial to the security of the state. They are against suicide attacks and any such activity which brings into bad light our faith,â Aziz said. Pakistanâs madrassas have been accused of being breeding grounds for extremism and came under the spotlight after it emerged that at least two of the London bombers may have visited a madrassa in Pakistan before the attacks. Musharraf announced a crackdown in which hundreds of people were rounded up, including clerics and suspected militants, while madrassas were told to expel all foreign students and register by December 31 or be shut down. But cleric Mufti Muneebur Rehman, speaking on behalf of the madrassa federation, said Friday that the matter had now been settled âamicablyâ. âThis is not a success or defeat of anyone, but is the success of Pakistan, of the religion of Islam and a step forward to settle the issues amicably without any confrontation,â Rehman was quoted as saying by state media. Musharraf has said that even though most of the religious schools provided shelter and education to children from rural areas, some were fanning âhatred and militancy.â |
| Posted by:Steve |