KARACHI:
The closure of only 28 unregistered seminaries in Benazirabad and 139 in Hyderabad since the launch of a province-wide operation against 1,423 unregistered seminaries has displeased the authorities who have directed the law-enforcers to ‘go for a fierce hunt’, it emerged on Wednesday, according to local media reports.
At least 579 unregistered madressahs — two dozens of them being allegedly involved in extremism — have been functioning in Karachi besides hundreds of others elsewhere in the province, but the law-enforcers appear to be reluctant to take action against them because of the street power many of them wield and the support they get from religious groups and parties, according to officials.
A report prepared by the Sindh Police and submitted to the home department shows that just 167 unregistered madressahs — 139 in Hyderabad and 28 in Benazirabad — have been sealed by the authorities so far. They included 95 Barelvi madressahs, 63 Shia, five Deobandi and four Ahl-i-Hadith madressahs.
