Data regarding 13,798 religious madrasahs has been collected and compiled by the Rangers after the Punjab government granted them special powers for 60 days.
The information regarding the madrasahs was collected to assist the rangers regarding possible terror threats in the province. The institutions are now under the Rangers’ radar through geo-tagging.
Of Lahore’s 644 madrasah’s 256 belong to the Deobandi group, 315 to the Berelvi, 61 to the Ahle Hadees school of thought, and 12 to the Ahle Tashee.
Meanwhile, Sheikhupura contains 600 Madrasahs, 202 of which are Deobandi, 286 Berelvi, 105 Ahle Hadees and 7 belonging to the Ahle Tashee school of thought. Rawalpindi on the other hand, has 1,257 such institutes divided into 703 for Deobandis 703, 510 for Berelvi, 21 for the Ahle Hadith, and 23 for the Ahle Tashee.
Multan came in on top with the most madrasahs recorded in a single city with 919 Deobandi, 952 Berelvi, 117 Ahle Hadith and 17 Ahle Tashee madrasahs making up a grand total of 2005.
Gujranwala also contains a large number of madrasahs, numbering at 1,920, with 616 for the Deobandi, 1104 for the Berelvi, 180 for the Ahle Hadith, and 20 belonging to the Ahle Tashee. Bahawalpur made up a similar amount of madrasahs at 1,911, with the Deobandi group making up 954, the Berelvis 664, the Ahle Hadith 170, and the Ahle Tashee 23.
Sargodha has a total of 1,336 madrasahs, with the Deobandi making up for 632, Berelvi 623, Ahle Hadith 36, and Ahle Tashee 45 of them. Faisalabad follows close behind at 1,294 madrasahs with the division being 597 Deobandi, 574 Berelvi, 93 Ahle Hadith, and 30 Ahle Tashee.
Sahiwal accounted for 909 madrasahs with the 358 Deobandi, 448 Berelvi, 110 Ahle Hadith, and 3 Ahle Tashee.
The madrasahs being under the scrutiny of the Rangers will mean that they will be privy to any possible moves that any terrorists make through or by using these madrasahs.
