Minister for Religious Affairs Chaudhry Salik Addresses Issues Surrounding Madrasah Registration Bill

ISLAMABAD:Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Chaudhry Salik, has acknowledged that due to certain legal complexities, it will take some time to finalize the Madrasah Registration Bill. Responding to Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s reservations about the bill, the Minister emphasized that the government did not intend to roll back the entire registration process.

In his statement regarding Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s objections to the bill, Chaudhry Salik clarified that the purpose of the bill was not to undermine the registration process but to make it more efficient and streamlined. He explained that religious schools, or madrasahs, are educational institutions, and the process of their registration under the Ministry of Education had encountered legal and procedural hurdles. After years of effort, a one-window system was established under the Directorate General of Religious Education in the Ministry of Education.

Chaudhry Salik highlighted that the registration of madrasahs has long been a necessary step, and consultations had been held with madrasah administrations, scholars, and political leaders throughout different periods. He added that the government had honored Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s demands by passing the bill in Parliament and fulfilling its commitment to the religious community. Currently, around 18,000 madrasahs are registered under the Directorate General of Religious Education.

The Minister for Religious Affairs further stated that if the process were to be restarted due to the demands, it would render all the previous efforts and work redundant. He emphasized that madrasahs are educational institutions, not industrial establishments, and such demands would set a dangerous precedent. “If we accept this demand, then in the future, anyone could call for any profession to be regulated under a different ministry based on personal wishes, which would undermine the country’s established systems,” he said.

Chaudhry Salik also reassured that the Ministry of Education and the Directorate General for Religious Education had worked to make the registration process easier for madrasahs. The one-window operation system has made the process more straightforward and user-friendly.

It is worth noting that Maulana Fazlur Rehman has expressed concerns over the delay in signing the Madrasah Registration Bill and has given the government a deadline until tomorrow to address the issue. He has accused the government of bad faith, stating that despite the bill being approved by consensus, its failure to be signed would be a violation of the agreement. Maulana Fazl has warned that if the bill is not signed, his party will launch strong opposition and call for the government’s resignation.