EDITORIAL: Apparently, the ruling alliance did not realise the implications of what it bargained for when it sought and received the badly needed support of the JUI-F for the passage of the highly controversial 26th Amendment in rerun for sponsoring madressah’s registration bill, free from education authorities’ oversight.
Although the government by-passed the procedural requirement of sending it to the relevant parliamentary committees, and got the Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2024, steamrolled through the Senate on October 20 and the National Assembly the next day, the President refused to sign it twice.
The government now finds itself in a quandary, wanting to backtrack on its obligation and yet appease the JUI-F chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called on him and reportedly promised to have the bill approved in its existing form, but to no avail. Meanwhile, the government said it would get it done in a joint session of parliament but seems to have changed its mind while its information minister talked of legal complications as a hindrance.
The Maulana is in no mood to let any of this pass. At first, he gave the government until December 8 to get the bill approved; otherwise, he would launch a massive agitation. He held back for a while after the pro-government madressah boards came out to express their reservations over the bill, but stayed stuck to his guns.
He has since reached out to the esteemed Sunni religious scholar, Mufti Taqi Usmani. That helped him rallying the support of Ittehad Tanzeemat-i-Madaris (TTM) — a federation of madressahs and their main regulatory body.
At its meeting in Islamabad this past Monday, the TTM iterated the Maulana’s stance. As things stand, in the first instance the President had objected to the proposed legislation saying that it was unnecessary as two laws, Pakistan Madressah Education Board Ordinance, 2001, and the Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Act, 2020, were already in the field; the second time the bill landed before him, he raised more objections.
The TTM, like the JUI-F leaders before, has pointed out that as per Article 175 of the Constitution if the bill stays with the President for more than 10 days, as in the present case, it is deemed to have been assented. Hence, it its insistence that it has become a law, and accordingly a gazette notification should be issued immediately for the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act.
When it moved the bill in parliament the government should have thought through all the issues and concerns now being raised. In any event, the matter of madressah reforms, as important and sensitive as it is, cannot be left by the wayside. Like all other educational institutions madressahs must be subject to effective oversight.
The government needs to stop foot dragging and get back on track. Instead of trying to wriggle out of its commitment it would be wise to sit with Mufti Usmani, Maulana Fazl and others in the TTM to resolve the matter in an amicable fashion. There should be no further twists and turns.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024