The federal government has asked the Sindh government to take immediate action against 1,813 madrassas being run by banned organisations across the province. In a letter to the Sindh Home Department, the Interior Ministry sought action against 1,147 madrassas of the Deoband sect, 609 of the Barelvi sect and 57 of the Fiqh-e-Jafariya sect. According to the Centre, 933 madrassas are situated in Karachi, 488 in Hyderabad and 392 in Sukkur.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Muhammad, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Millat-e Islamia Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Jafaria Pakistan, Islami Tehreek Pakistan, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Khademul Islam, Jamiat-e-Furqan, Hizbut Tahrir, Jamiatul Ansar, Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jamaatud Dawa, Khairun Nas International Trust, Lashkar-e-Islam, Ansarul Islam, Haji Namdar Group, al Akhtar Trust, al Rashid Trust, al Qaeda, Balochistan Liberation Army, Islamic Students Movement of Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Sunni Tehreek (already on the watch list) and People’s Amn Committee were mentioned in the letter.
The letter also listed organisations that started operating under a new name after they were banned, including Sipah-e-Muhammad that re-emerged as Millat-e Islamia Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Jafaria Pakistan as Tehreek-e-Islami, Jaish-e-Muhammad as Khademul Islam and al Rehman Trust, Jamaat al Furqan as Jamiat-e-Furqan, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba as Jamaatud Dawa, al Akhtar Trust as Azmat Foundation and People’s Amn Committee as Awami Amn Committee.
The leaders of the banned organisations were cited as Akram Lahori, Allama Ghulam Raza Naqvi, Maulana Masood Azhar, Maulana Abdullah Shah Mazhar, Naveed Butt, Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, Sufi Muhammad, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Mangal Bagh, Qazi Mehboobul Haq, Maulvi Namdar, Maulana Mufti Zar Wali Khan, Ayman al Zawahiri, Wali Masood, Sarwat Ejaz Qadri and Aziz Baloch.
It is interesting to note here that the federal government has written to the Sindh government for taking action against organisations like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and al Qaeda. Moreover, the letter failed to mention which madrassa belonged to which organisation.
Sources said the Sindh government might not take action against high-profile organisations and the madrassas they are running. They said the provincial home department is developing a strategy for taking action against illegal madrassas because religious extremists could use them against the government in a Lal Masjid-like incident. However, the provincial government does not have the capability to take action against all madrassas at once, they added.