Serious differences have cropped up between the Pakistan Seminary Education Board (PSEB) and the seminaries of four major schools of thought who have finally decided for not getting a single penny from the PSEB at any level and launching of countrywide mobilisation campaign against President Musharraf's policies about seminaries, it is learnt.
The differences sharpened when the government decided for bearing utility expenditures of seminaries instead of flowing direct financial assistance to the religious seminaries compared to past.
The organisations of religious institutions (Tanzeem Wifaq-ul-Madaris Arbia) which represents all schools of thought in her close door meeting held a few days back had decided rejection of seminaries reforms being inducted by present regime.
The TWMA alleged the government that her departments were consuming the foreign aid in the name of religious seminaries while they did not get even a single penny from PSEB.
However, the official member of PSEB rejected their claim and said that huge budgets were released to numbers of countrywide seminaries in different heads last year.
Member central affiliation committee of PSED Mufti Abdul Qavi said that about 1,395 religious seminaries have received Rs 367,839 in 2003 in the name of monthly stipend for students.
The Federal Education Ministry awarded hundreds of millions rupees to 2,153 seminaries for the installation of computer technology and adopting contemporary subjects.
At least five Sindh Province organisations were provided heavy vehicles for travelling, computers in connection with financial assistance.
The TWMA members seminaries strongly reacted on the proposal to bring a law for registration and regularisation of religious seminaries without taking them into confidence describing it an attempt to end the separate entity and identification of religious institutions and their social role.
Finally it has decided not let the government introduce a new law for the registration regularisation, monitoring and imposing curbs on Religious seminaries and it would resist all such acts forcefully. Because these measures are being taken to grab US aid and ending the separate entity of these institutions.
A joint meeting of heads of federations of religious institutions of Deobandi, Beralvi, Shia and Ahle Hadith in Jamia Naeemia has decided unanimously that no religious institution would accept the financial assistance from Pakistan government or USA or any other government in any shape, Nor they would get themselves registered with the state owned "Pakistan Seminaries Education Board".
If anyone violate this decision and get registration or financial assistance from Government would be expelled from the relevant federation of religious institutions.
The TWMA secretary general Qari Hanif Jhulandari said," We are going to launch a country wide drive to mobilise the public opinion against the government's measures against religious institution."
He expressed his concern on government's designs to get powers to interfere and intervene into the affairs of religious institutions in the guise of bringing them in mainstream and providing financial assistance, computers, furniture, etc.
Qari Hanif said that present regime headed by General Pervez Musharraf was violating the previous decisions in which a nine member committee was formed to take future action with consensus but government violated it.
He further said that a convention of Auqaf department employees and so-called religious scholars was convened in Islamabad to hoodwink the foreign and local media, while representatives of Wifaq-ul-Madaris Arabia, of the four schools of thought were neglected.
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