Government attempts to declassify Islamic diplomas
Islamabad (AsiaNews) – The Pakistani government told the Supreme Court today that degrees awarded by madrassas were not equivalent to graduation, therefore the madrassa-degree holders applications to contest elections was invalid. The decision has provoked widespread protest, both political and popular.
The decision was handed to the judges on the back of the Election Commission’s July 29, 2002 notification permitting the de facto participation of madrassa students in the political life of the nation.
Speaking on the government’s behalf, Deputy Attorney General Sardar Muhammad Ghazi told the Supreme Court, “The Higher Education Commission accepted the madrassa degrees only for teaching purposes, while declaring that clerics would have to pass two optional and compulsory subjects each to attain BA equivalence certificates”.
The chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, immediately asked the Islamabad representative “if he knew the repercussion of his statement”. Ghazi responded by saying he was just stating the government’s stance on the matter”. Upon the completion of the hearing, the Supreme Court reserved judgment for the upcoming week, but news of the decision immediately provoked outrage among Islamic fundamentalists and Muslim parties.
Currently, Sixty-eight parliamentarians including seven senators possess madrassa degrees most of them aligned to Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, the coalition of 6 Muslim parties which constitutes Musharraf’s main opposition block.
In recent years, Islamic schools have mushroomed in the country: in Lahore alone, the number of madrassa has risen from 22 to 37 thousand.
.png)
