ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2024 has already become an act and his party will not accept any amendments to it.
“If the president does not sign a bill within 10 days, it automatically becomes law, as has already happened in past instances. Presenting the bill again without accepting it as an act would violate the Constitution. If the matter is not resolved, the decision will be made on the roads rather than the Parliament,” warned Fazlur Rehman while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
“The madrassa bill has already passed and become an act after the objections, raised by the president, were addressed and the National Assembly speaker made the necessary corrections. The bill has become law, though there is still an issue regarding the Gazette notification,” he said.
Fazl lashes out at President over Madaras Bill
Referring to a legal precedent in the past set by former president Arif Alvi, who did not sign a bill, Maulana explained that under such circumstances, the bill automatically becomes an act after 10 days. “The president no longer has the power to stop the bill once the 10-day period has passed,” he added.
He said that President Asif Ali Zardari raised an objection in the bill on October 28, which was corrected by the National Assembly speaker terming it a human error, before sending it back to the President House.
“Which meant the bill was received by the President’s House on October 28,” he added.
He also apprised the legislators that there was no mention of registration with the Education Ministry in the bill that was passed in the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
The speaker in an interview said, the JUI-F supremo apprised the House, the bill had become a law as per the books. The speaker cited an example from former president Arif Alvi’s tenure when a bill became law despite the then president’s not signing it, he noted.
The JUI-F president also criticised the government for what he sees as hindrances in the registration of religious schools (madrassas), claiming that the true issue lies in the government’s disregard for the rights and privileges of Parliament.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman threatened to launch a protest drive if the government further delayed the matter and refused to notify Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2024, passed by both houses of parliament.
In his remarks on the bill’s making an act will allegedly draw the anger of foreign powers, he said not a single parliamentarian was kept unaware regarding progress on the bill.
“Now they say that this will infuriate the FATF, IMF and others. If we are not [a] free [nation] then let us know,” he said, adding that the cat was out of the bag that our legislations were made on “their” instructions. “Are our legislations being made on other countries’ whims and desires? We are trying not to move towards bitterness,” he said.
He said that for the last 24 years, madrassas have operated in accordance with the Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2024 (Madrasah’s registration) and the Constitution. He said that we have never opposed modern education. He dismissed the idea of dividing seminaries into “religious” and “modern” categories, stating that students from madrassas have excelled in national exams.
He accused the bureaucracy and establishment of undermining the credibility of religious education. “Attempts to interfere with our curriculum will not be tolerated. Whether we Madrasahs register or not, bank account open or not till 100 years,money will come and our institutions will continue to operate. If our stance is ignored, we will resolve the matter outside the Parliament,” he declared.
Maulana said that a meeting of the Ittehad-e-Tanzeemat-e-Madaris was held in Islamabad on Monday. He said that the Ittehad-e-Tanzeemat-e-Madaris on Monday demanded the immediate issuance of a gazette notification for the Madrassa Registration Bill.
He said he was not against the modern education, noting the madaris students even achieved first, second and third positions in conventional educational institutes.
Responding to Maulana’s remarks, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the bill was definitely passed by both houses with the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
He said that as per the Constitution’s Article 50, the president was a part of the parliament and no legislation could be completed without his signature.
The Law minister said, “As per Article 75, the president either approves the bill within 10 days or returns it to the parliament. When the president returns the bill, then it is presented before a joint parliamentary session, as per the Constitution.
Then, the bill is passed in the joint session, with or without amendments.” Fazl replied that the president did not raise any objection when the speaker said there was no need to convene a joint session of the parliament. “When he [the president] did not object to it then the discussion ended.”
“The speaker said the mistake had been corrected. You should let this become a law, after that we will discuss other things. Consider things separately and do not mix them,” he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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