Madrassa parents voice concerns

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Parents of some of the girls studying at a controversial religious school in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, have voiced concern for their safety.

Their fears rose after an ultimatum from madrassa leaders that Sharia law be enforced in the country.

The school and adjoining mosque are accused of promoting intolerance and taking the law into their own hands.

On Sunday, the chief cleric issued a fatwa against a female minister who had been pictured hugging a man.

I believe that our religion teaches us to stop a vice... but I don't agree with what the madrassa administration is doing Abdul Wahab, Father of Jamia Hafsa student <a class="" href="/1/hi/world/south_asia/6503477.stm">Profile: Red madrassa </a>

The madrassa has frequently been in the news in recent months. In February, armed students prevented the authorities from demolishing an illegally constructed mosque, and occupied a nearby children's library.

Last month they abducted a woman they accused of running a brothel, holding her captive for two days.

Correspondents say it appears the Pakistani authorities are reluctant or helpless to take action against the school's teachers and students.

'Don't agree'

Parents of some of the girls studying at the Jamia Hafsa say they are worried by recent events, but do not want to harm their daughters' education.

The madrassa administration is accused of being 'extremist'

Mohammed Shoaib, whose daughter is at the Jamia Hafsa, told the BBC that he did not want his daughter involved in any conflict with the government.

"I am worried about her but I am also worried about the future of her education. I don't want her to discontinue her studies. It is her duty to complete her education."

Another father, Abdul Wahab, said he did not know what to do.

"I believe that our religion teaches us to stop a vice when we come across it but at the same time, I don't agree with what the madrassa administration is doing.

"I believe these things should be handled in a peaceful manner. Our religion lays emphasis on peace."

M Jamil, three of whose daughters are studying at the madrassa, said his daughters were too committed to the madrassa ideology to care about anything.

"I came to take my daughters home because their mother was ill and needed to be looked after.

"But my daughters said that only one of them could go home and that only for a couple of days because they were needed more in the madrassa than at home."

All three said they were worried about their children's safety as the situation had become very tense and uncertain.

Ghazi Abdur Rashid, the head of the madrassa, told reporters on Monday that every student was free to leave if they wanted and no one was being kept under duress.

"We have not imposed any restrictions on anyone," he said.

Fatwa

The stand-off with the authorities took a new twist on Sunday when clerics at the Lal Masjid mosque, who run the Jamia Hasfa school, issued a fatwa against tourism minister Nilofar Bakhtiar.

Nilofar Bakhtiar was pictured after a paragliding flight

Chief cleric Abdul Aziz demanded she be sacked and punished for posing in an "obscene manner".

Mrs Bakhtiar was pictured after a charity paragliding flight in France - hugging a man who was apparently one of her instructors.

"I do not feel ashamed at all for what I did and I am not afraid of anyone except God," she later told reporters, the AFP news agency said.

Meanwhile, Wafaqul Madaris Arabia, one of Pakistan's largest umbrella organisations regulating the affairs of seminaries, has expelled the madrassa from its basic membership.

The group's head, Maulvi Saleemullah, said the madrassa had over stepped its mandate and was providing the government with a reason to crackdown on all religious institutions.

He said he had spoken to various teachers employed by the Islamabad madrassa and most of them were also against what its administration was doing.

The BBC's Aamer Ahmed Khan in Islamabad says President Musharraf spent Monday afternoon with the prime minister and several key federal ministers discussing what course of action should be adopted for dealing with the madrassa.

No details are available as yet of what was decided in the meeting.