Government of Pakistan is likely to put ban on unlicensed madrassahs

Government of Pakistan is likely to put ban on unlicensed madrassahs

Following the sad event, which came into light on December 13^th where Police rescued some 50 boys chained in shackles at a Madrassha in Karachi, the Government of Pakistan is planning to announce a ban on the unlicensed Madrassahs. According to
a recent report, only 24, 000 madrassahs have the license while thousand others are working in different parts of the country without any legal permission. According to interior minister Rehman Malik, who recently had a meeting with religious leaders, the
unlicensed religious schools will be declared illegal in January, 2012.

Last week, police raided Zakariya madrasah on the outskirts of Karachi and unveiled the malicious approach of keeping the students in warren rooms with chains and shackles.  The number of rescued children varies from 50 to 54 in different reports but seven
of them were apparently beaten and abused. One of the madrassah students said that he had been beaten around 200 times, while the others had similar stories. Some of the victims had signs of severe torture, whereas other had developed wounds from the chains.
Police arrested two of the mentors of madrassah but the main cleric managed to escape during the raid. Local televisions showed the students dancing and singing after the release from the underground maze of rooms.

Most of the madrassahs in Pakistan have children of poor families, which send their kids to learn basic reading, writing, and Quran. Moreover, many of the madrassahs offer free boarding and lodging, and poor people who cannot afford non-religious schools
or feel state institutions are inadequate; send their children to the madrassahs.

On the other hand, some are sent there for the cure of curses and for the treatment of drug addiction. Azmat Ulla, a 17-year-old student, told his father sent him there because he suffered fits and could be violent.

Nevertheless, it is time to stop the horrendous act of these so called madrassahs. The government is taking a good action to ban such madrassahs, which have not earned the legal permission and do not serve the purpose of giving Islamic education to the students.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=6767

Posted by Irfan Khokhar on Dec 21 2011. Filed under Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry