President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed concerns over the proposed Madrasa Bill and its potential implications. He fears that registering seminaries under the Societies Act could trigger sanctions under FATF (Financial Action Task Force) and GSP+ (Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus).
Sources revealed on Friday that the president raised eight key objections to the Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill 2024. The bill aims to register madrasas, but President Zardari believes it could harm Pakistan’s international image and create internal instability.
Earlier this month, President Zardari returned the bill with his objections. He warned that registering religious seminaries under this law could increase sectarianism. Additionally, the presence of multiple madrasas in a single community could worsen law and order issues.
The president also pointed out contradictions in how the term madrasa is defined in various parts of the bill. He cited the Madrasa Education Board Ordinance 2001 and the Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Act 2020, stating that new legislation is unnecessary as these existing laws already govern the matter.
President Zardari objected that the Societies Registration Act 1860 applies only to Islamabad. Yet, the proposed amendments do not specify that their scope would be limited to Islamabad. This oversight, he argued, could lead to legal inconsistencies.
Another objection raised was that registering madrasas as societies might allow their use for non-educational purposes. The president emphasized that the preamble of the Societies Registration Act 1860 does not mention madrasas. Including seminaries under this act would contradict its original intent.
He also noted that the act covers areas like fine arts, including dance and art classes, which are unrelated to madrasa education. Such contradictions, he argued, could weaken the law’s effectiveness and attract international criticism.
The president urged assembly members to consider international concerns when drafting laws related to religious seminaries.
Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUIF) criticized the president’s objections. On Friday, JUIF spokesman Aslam Ghori claimed that President Zardari ignored constitutional procedures while raising his concerns about the Madrasa Bill.
Ghori accused the president of acting under external pressure. He also alleged that the president had missed the deadline for raising his objections. According to Ghori, objections cannot be raised a second time once addressed, yet the president repeated his concerns.
The JUIF leader added that objections should have been submitted to the Speaker of the Assembly. However, this was not done. He said the speaker had already responded to the initial objections, making the second set of concerns invalid.
