“Pakistan is moving to regulate thousands of religious schools and seminaries in a move aimed at curbing the spread of religious militancy,” officials said. “The government is giving final touches to a draft law for the purpose, which will mark another major step to control religious extremism since President Pervez Musharraf banned two militant groups in August,” they said.
Musharraf and religious parties have been at loggerheads since Pakistan joined the US-led international coalition against terrorism in September.
As a wave of street protests by radical parties tapered off after the Taliban rout in Afghanistan, Musharraf last week vowed to rein in what he called the extremist minority.
“Under the proposed regulatory regime, Madrassas, or religious schools, will be registered and their accounts periodically audited,” sources said.
“Registration will be subject to prior clearance by security agencies and authorities will be empowered to close any unapproved school or seminary,” they said. “Registered schools will be required to introduce teaching of modern subjects side by side with religious education in order to bring them into the mainstream of the national educational system,” an interior ministry official has said.
Religious parties and groups operate around 7,000 schools countrywide with the help of financial contributions from sympathizers at home and abroad. More than half a million children and adults live and study in religious schools, thousands of them Afghans and hundreds from Arab countries. Bureau Report