MM News

JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman lambasted the government for not issuing the notification of the Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill 2024, which he said has become a law after it was returned twice by the president.

According to a report by Pak Observer, addressing a news conference in Dera Ismail Khan on Thursday, he called upon the government to issue the notification without any further delay and said that a bill becomes an act automatically if not signed within ten days.

Mr. Rehman accused the government and the “institutions” of compromising on the Constitution in pursuit of their vested interests. “They are committing ridicule with the Constitution,” he said. He threatened to go to court if the government further persisted in its avowed reluctance to give effect to the bill and wondered why no one objected to it when the bill came before parliament for voting.

The madrassa bill, meant to streamline seminaries, had already been passed by both houses of parliament. Rehman said its implementation was part of the agreement between the government and JUI-F in return for the support of the 26th Amendment. He berated the lack of implementation on the important provisions of the bill, such as opening bank accounts for madrassas under Wafaqul Madaris, as agreed. “Has any seminary’s bank account been opened?” he asked.

Rehman also questioned whether the president had the authority to return a bill for a second time, as the acting chairman of the Senate had already returned the bill to the president after addressing the first objection.

He referred to a precedent where a bill was notified despite former President Arif Alvi refusing to sign it after ten days.

He said the government buckled under foreign pressure. “We know whose instructions are behind attempts to derail the seminaries bill — the IMF, FATF, and America,” he accused in a tone that again reflected his disappointment with the government’s move.

The JUI-F leader voiced his dissatisfaction with the draft presented by the Law Ministry, which his party had given its assent to though with reservations, and went on to question the reasons behind reservations being expressed by President Zardari. “I fail to understand what grounds for objection remain,” he said. He warned that if his party’s reservations were continued to be ignored, he would “not be so sporting anymore.”