ISLAMABAD:
Religious groups belonging to the Deobandi school of thought have protested against Pervaiz Rashid’s remarks about seminaries, according to local media sources.
In a national conference organised by the Pakistan Academy of Letters in Karachi on May 3, the minister described seminaries as ‘centres of ignorance and illiteracy’, according to authorities.
Wafaqul Madaris Al Arabia, the board representing the seminaries belonging to the Deobandi school of thought, on Saturday held a protest outside the National Press Club, according to sources.
The protesters demanded the removal of the information minister besides the registration of cases against him, authorities stated.
The minister had said: “These universities of ignorance, to whom we give donations and hides, are giving an ideology of hatred and conservativeness to the society.”
Similarly, the student wing of the proscribed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) – the Muslim Students Organisation – in a statement said the statement by the information minister was a conspiracy against Islam and it had hurt the sentiments of Muslim youth of the country, stated sources.