LAHORE - Jamaat-e-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq has rejected the government decision to create five new boards of religious seminaries, terming it a conspiracy to divide the Ummah on sectarian basis.

“The government has taken the decision on the pressure of the FATF and western powers. The decision is tantamount to damage the ideological base of the country,” he said while talking to a delegation of Jamiat Talaba Arabia at Mansoora on Tuesday. The delegation informed the JI chief that the government took the decision without taking on board the Madaris leaders and students.

Sirajul Haq said the decision would damage the future of the millions of seminary students. He said the JI wanted a single board of madaris and single curriculum. He said the government should abstain from damaging the ideological base of Pakistan on the pressure of international institutions. He said the government should allocate funds for madaris in budget. He said it seemed the claimants of Madina-like-state were bent upon damaging the ideology of Pakistan after destroying its economy.

He said the JI would never leave alone the Madaris students and raise the voice for the rights at every forum. He said the madaris were the fortress of Islam and Pakistan. He said the JI was making a struggle to transfer Pakistan into an Islamic welfare state.