Islamabad: Chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council and Prime Minister’s Coordinator on the National Paigham-e-Aman Committee, Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, on Monday said the Directorate General of Religious Education (DGRE) will convene an important meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday to address issues of Madaris Arabia in which important progress is expected facing religious seminaries across Pakistan.
Addressing an annual prize-distribution ceremony organized by Nizam-ul-Madaris Pakistan to honour position-holding students, he said the meeting was expected to lead to important progress towards resolving the issues confronting Madaris, including registration, bank accounts and other administrative matters.
He said Pakistan has around 33,000 Madaris, of which 22,000 have been registered with the Directorate General of Religious Education, said a press release issued here.
He said Pakistan has 15 recognized religious education boards, with 10 already registered with the Directorate General of Religious Education.
He made it clear that there was no objection to seminaries wishing to continue their registration under the old system.
Highlighting the educational contribution of Madaris, Ashrafi said religious seminaries were providing students with both religious and contemporary education.
He said the achievement of Madaris students in securing positions in various educational boards this year was clear evidence of their growing contribution to education and national development.
He said Madaris Arabia were rendering valuable services to Pakistan, Islam and the nation and were playing an important role in the education and character-building of students.
Ashrafi said the Mutahida Madaris Council remained committed to resolving the issues confronting religious seminaries and appreciated the continued interest and directives of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir in facilitating solutions to the longstanding concerns of the Madaris sector.
He said Pakistan’s Madaris were standing firmly against extremism and terrorism. He said religious seminaries and their leadership were also committed to promoting interfaith and intra-faith harmony, tolerance, peace and national unity.
Ashrafi expressed confidence that continued coordination between the government, religious education boards and Madaris would help resolve their outstanding issues and enable them to play an even more effective role in national development and the promotion of peace and stability.
The annual ceremony organized by Nizam-ul-Madaris Pakistan was attended by a large number of Ulema, Mashaikh and Shuyukh from Pakistan and abroad, who joined the gathering to honour students who had secured prominent positions in their respective examinations.
