Pakistani seminaries want independence

Pakistani clerics made it clear to the government that their seminaries would remain independent of official influence by not becoming part of government department, a departure from the stance adopted by them in 2019.

In 2019, traditional madrassas boards had agreed to cede some control to the federal education ministry.

The Ittehad Tanzeemat-i-Madaris Pakistan, a representative body of seminaries run by clerics belonging to different sects of Islam, made the announcement after a meeting on Tuesday.

A joint delegation of clerics called on Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) at his residence in Islamabad to throw their weight behind him in the current controversy over a Bill regarding registration of madrassas.