Pakistan Religious Schools Threaten Protest Over New Laws

Dow Jones International News | 07/06/2002 | (Copyright (c) 2002, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

[TheOtherOne]

ISLAMABAD (AP)--Islamic clerics, representing thousands of religious schools in Pakistan, threatened Saturday to launch nationwide demonstrations to protest new laws that would regulate their finances, the enrollment of overseas students and prevent the teaching of Islamic extremism.

After attending a meeting with top government officials to discuss the new rules, the heads of religious schools gave the government two weeks to withdraw the new regulations or face the protests.

In a statement issued after the meeting, Ittehad-e-Tanzeemat, an alliance of organizations representing most of some 8,000 religious schools, said it would organize street demonstrations if the new regulations weren't abandoned.

"We neither give training in militancy to anyone nor collect donations in the name of Jihad (holy war)," the statement said. "Our sole aim is to prepare Islamic scholars."

Yet they refused to identify the sources of their funding, a key demand by the government.

Some of Pakistan's madrassas are considered key training grounds of Islamic militancy. Some produced Muslim scholars who later became central figures in the Taliban movement in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistan's military government announced new laws which would have madrassas register with the government, introduce subjects like math, science, English and other skills in their syllabus, seek government permission before admitting foreign students and to disclose their funding sources.

Clerics who defy the new ordinance face penalties of up to 2 years in prison.

The plan has outraged many religious leaders, who say government interference in the madrassas is illegal and against the spirit of Islam.

Madrassas operate with no state supervision and in many schools learning focusses more on rote memorization of Arabic religious texts than social sciences and other subjects.

Religious Affairs Minister Ghazi Mahmood Ahmed hosted Saturday's meeting and conceded afterward that no agreement had been reached. He said another meeting would be held within two weeks.

An official who attended the meeting said, on condition of anonymity, that the clerics were told that the government wouldn't back down on the regulations.

Sajid Mir, the head of an organization which represents hundreds of madrassas, said clerics would never let the government direct what is taught in madrassas.

"We would definitely resist if the government forced (through) this ordinance," Sajid told reporters. He refused to elaborate.

The government is particularly concerned about thousands of foreigners studying at the madrassas without any official registration. The clerics were told that these students were a threat to Pakistan's security, the official said.

A survey by the Interior Ministry recently counted almost 18,000 foreigners among the more than 600,000 students in madrassas across Pakistan.

[Savage Beast]

Close 'em down.

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[He Rides A White Horse]

Islamic clerics, representing thousands of religious schools in Pakistan, threatened Saturday to launch nationwide demonstrations to protest new laws that would regulate their finances, the enrollment of overseas students and prevent the teaching of Islamic extremism.

"Oh by the way, did we mention that we'll kill Musharrif and take over the nuclear weapons sites as well ?"

[He Rides A White Horse]

ping

[He Rides A White Horse]

This is serious stuff, friend. Not tinfoil stuff, either.

[He Rides A White Horse]

If these people pull an Ayatollah Khomeini, we are going to have to destroy them.

[a_Turk]

Musharraf should send in his troops and wipe the clerics out..

[reg45]

"Oh by the way, did we mention that we'll kill Musharrif and take over the nuclear weapons sites as well ?"

If anything would cause the BJP in India to "push the button", that would.

[He Rides A White Horse]

If anything would cause the BJP in India to "push the button", that would.

Somebody would have to do it.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Musharraf should send in his troops and wipe the clerics out..

Maybe Musharrif's troops would pull an 'Anwar Sadat'....

[Not now, Not ever!]

"We would definitely resist if the government forced (through) this ordinance," Sajid told reporters. He refused to elaborate.

Listen up savages, if you do not leave the twelfth century and join humanity in the 21st, you will soon only be impurities in the glass, Got that Sajid? It's about time your Religion (cult) produced something useful, beyond Pita bread!

[He Rides A White Horse]

So here is the critical question.........what does Turkey do or say if we have to obliterate the Ayatollah with a Bomb?

[He Rides A White Horse]

There is no way we allow the 'Madrassah Masters' get their hands on some, what, 50 atomic weapons. If we have to do what we have to do, do Turks shake their heads and say, "We understand that you did what you had to", or is it, "Those Yankee bastards incinerated our Muslim brothers"........?

[a_Turk]

What would we say? Probably ask how to deal with the radioactive fallout.. The consequences would be terrible for us.. Our people would get sick and die in the millions. Many millions of women and children ould die right away in the target area. Imagine shooting those women and children in the head one by one..

I'll say "the bomb" is not "the answer." It'll only turn more people against us.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Our people would get sick and die in the millions. Many millions of women and children ould die right away in the target area. Imagine shooting those women and children in the head one by one..

Yes, perhaps it would be better for us to deal with radioactive fallout, millions of people dying, a couple of cities going up in smoke.

That's right, Turkey will do what is good for Turkey, just as the US should do what is good for the US.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Many millions of women and children ould die right away in the target area. Imagine shooting those women and children in the head one by one..

I imagine them shooting themselves in the head one by one. We didn't start this war. These Islamic nations want to implement suicidal policies, and we are supposed to take the bullet for them? I don't think so.

[He Rides A White Horse]

These same people who would dance in the street at 9-11 would have the biggest block party you ever heard of if the US was attacked with nuclear weapons, and you want me feel sorry for them if they get blasted from the face of the earth. You reap what you sow.

[a_Turk]

I'll speculate that surgery is better in this case than incinerating the patient.

Hey, it's obvious that the US won't drop "the bomb" on anyone, that would set the precedent for the world to go to hell in a hand basket.

Too many citizens of bomb owning countries talk big. So far, I am happy to see, none of those citizens have actually been elected.

Back in the old days patients would be immersed in boiling water in hopes of curing their ills. They died. The diesease was not defeated, however, until drugs that targeted the individual bacterium were developed and used.

Also, what makes you think that bombing way the f*ck over there is going to prevent an attack over here? If anyone is going to permit an attack over here, besides the perps, it'll be the liberals who resist tigher security and racial profiling...

[He Rides A White Horse]

Hey, it's obvious that the US won't drop "the bomb" on anyone

Don't make that mistake. See Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Too many citizens of bomb owning countries talk big.

Not too many talk like an Islamic country owning the bomb. Eternal reward for slaughtering millions.

Take China for instance. Or Russia. Atheists mostly. Don't don't expect an 'eternal rewards' for such deeds. They expect to be dead.

Also, what makes you think that bombing way the f*ck over there is going to prevent an attack over here?

Dead people tend not to fight very well.