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Journalism of Courage
Islamic schools in Pakistan on Monday rejected an order from the government of President Pervez Musharraf to register with the authorities, branding it discriminatory.
Last month Musharraf announced a new plan to regulate Pakistan’s 12.300 madrasas—some of which are suspected of being breeding grounds for Islamist militants—after revelations that three of the four bombers in the July 7 attacks on London were Muslims of Pakistani origin. Under the new order, all madrasas are required to register by the end of this year.
Representatives of an alliance of madrasas, who met on Monday, decided not to register their schools. ‘‘This law is unacceptable to us in its present form,’’ Maulana Mohd Hanif Jallundri, a spokesman for Ittihad Tanzeemat Madaris Dinya Pakistan said. Jallundri said that the new law singled out madarsas for providing sources of their funds, while other private institutions and schools had been exempted from such scrutiny.
‘‘Have they asked the private schools and non-governmental organisations to give such details? Then why they are asking us to do so?’’ he asked. —Reuters
