The Ittehad Tanzeemat-i-Madaris Pakistan (ITMP), a coalition of the country’s major madressah oversight bodies, has demanded that the government issue a gazette notification for the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act 2024.

“This bill has adopted a legal form … our demand is that the gazette notification be issued for it without delay so immediate implementation can begin on it,” Mufti Muneebur Rehman, head of board for madressahs of Barelvi school of thought, said while reading out a resolution agreed upon by all members of meeting at the press conference.

The Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2024 extends the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and includes provisions for the registration of ‘Deeni Madaris’ under the relevant deputy commissioner office.

The act focuses on the registration of seminaries through the relevant deputy commissioner’s office, reverting to practices established before 2019.

The bill specifies that a madressah with more than one campus needs only one registration, and every madressah must submit an annual report of its educational activities to the registrar. Moreover, each madressah must have its accounts audited by an auditor and submit the audit report to the registrar.

Last week, President Zardari expressed concerns about potential negative consequences for Pakistan’s international standing and internal stability if the bill turned into a law. Earlier, he did not sign the bill and raised objections to it.

In a meeting, participants engaged in detailed discussions and reached a consensus on a joint statement after extensive debate.

While revisiting the passage of the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, Mufti Muneeb explained that after the bill was sent back to President Zardari on November 1, addressing his previous concerns, no further issues were raised within the following 10 days.

“But new reservations were introduced on November 13, which were not applicable due to the expiration of the timeframe,” he noted.

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Mufti Muneeb emphasised that objections to the Act could not be re-raised. He expressed confidence that the government would accept their demands, stating that if not, the participants would reconvene to determine a unified course of action moving forward.

Fazl stated that an issue regarding the Act arose after a “considerable amount of time” had passed, labeling it as “controversial”. He expressed his willingness to engage in discussions if concerns had been raised promptly.

The JUI-F chairman emphasised that the individuals present alongside him were committed to resolving the matter with the government in a peaceful, legal, and democratic manner, urging the government to respond in a similar fashion.