Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hamdullah has said that the cat is out of the bag and President Asif Ali Zardari’s objections to the madressa registration bill have proven that the real objective is to hand over the seminaries to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Reacting to the president’s objections to the madressa registration bill, the JUI-F leader said that it had been proven that the parliament did not belong to Pakistan but to the FATF. He also questioned whether the FATF will dictate which institution will work under which law.

He further remarked that it had become clear to the nation that Pakistan’s parliament was not independent in lawmaking even today, claiming that the bureaucracy inside the Presidency has not even read the Societies Act, otherwise, there would be no need for any objections.

Hamdullah also asked whether the establishment of the Societies Act was meant for “fine arts" and demanded an answer from the Presidency as to how many “fine arts” institutions there were in the country.

He further said that the objections raised by the Presidency to the madressa registration bill were nothing but a joke.

Govt reaction

Responding to Hafiz Hamdullah’s statement, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said the objections raised by the president on the bill were legal and constitutional, adding that the objections neither mentioned FATF nor had any connection with it.