ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that there are only three to four percent Madaris about which the government has evidence that they are directly or indirectly involved in terrorist activities.
His statement came in response to adjournment motions submitted in the Senate and the National Assembly against the Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed’s statement about religious Madaris.
On May 3, the information minister while addressing a national conference in Karachi described the seminaries as ‘centres of ignorance and illiteracy.’
In response, the religious groups belonging to the Deobandi school of thought protested against Pervaiz Rasheed’s remarks about seminaries while the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl’s (JUI-F) Maulana Ata-ur-Rehman moved an adjournment motion in the Senate.
On a point of order in the National Assembly on Tuesday, the defence minister told the House that a campaign against the information minister has been launched by some religious circles due to misunderstanding of his statement regarding religious seminaries. He said that such campaign is a result of a violent thinking.
The minister said that there are over 20,000 religious seminaries that are doing a great service and providing education and lodging and boarding facilities to the students.
Khawaja Asif said that adjournment motions were moved in both the House but after statement by the information minister in the Senate yesterday, the matter has been settled.
