ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday signed the, Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2024 (Madrassa registration) into law ending the weeks-long friction with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).
The National Assembly Secretariat has issued a gazette notification for the said law, according to which, seminaries would be registered as per the Societies Act.
Furthermore, the president has also issued an ordinance concerning amendments to the Societies Registration Act, 2024.
As per the ordinance, applicable only to the Islamabad’s jurisdiction, madrassas will have the discretion to register either with the Education Ministry or the Industries Ministry.
The development follows the federal cabinet’s Friday’s approval of the tweaks to the Societies Registration Act, 1860, after the government and the JUI-F resolved their differences.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had met JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, wherein, the former reportedly “accepted all demands of the Ittehad Tanzeemat-e-Madaris Deenia (ITMD)” regarding the bill.
According to the bill, “a Deeni Madrasa established after commencement of the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2024, shall get it registered under this Act within one year of its establishment.”
A Deeni Madrasa having more than one campus shall need only one registration.
“Every Deeni Madrasa shall submit to the Registrar annual report of its educational activities. Every Deeni Madrasa shall cause to be carried out audit of its accounts by an auditor and submit a copy of its audit report to the Registrar. No Deeni Madrasa shall teach or publish any literature which promote militancy or spreads sectarianism or religious hatred.”
“For registration of Deeni Madrasa under this Act, no Deeni Madrasa shall be required to register itself under any other law for the time being in force.”
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had met JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman wherein the former reportedly “accepted all demands of the Ittehad Tanzeemat-e-Madaris Deenia (ITMD)” regarding the bill.
The disputed Madrassa bill, which has already been passed by both houses of parliament, had become a bone of contention between the Fazl-led party and the government.
Its enactment was part of an agreement between the government and the religio-political party for supporting the 26th Amendment, Fazl had said previously.
The bill required President Zardari’s assent to become law after he returned the bill, citing legal objections.
The said legislation, now an Act, amends the existing procedure for registration of madrassas with the Education Ministry, stating that the institutions should be affiliated with the industries ministry instead.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024