JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said they would fight every attempt to curtail the independence of madrassas as he rejected the announcement made by the government to allocate Rs5 billion for reforms in these religious educational institutions, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.

Talking to media in Dera Ismail Khan, the JUI-F chief said they would not accept any government interference in madrassas. “The very word of reforms for madrassas is unacceptable. We consider this as an insult to madrassas,” he made it clear.

Instead, Fazl asked the government to introduce reforms in the state-run educational institutions. “The government should reform the educational institutions run by it where there are thousands of deficiencies,” he remarked.

The JUI-F chief also mentioned that the changes were regularly made in syllabus about the Finality of Prophethood (PBUH), which were also withdrawn by the government after succumbing to pressure.

Blasting the PTI, he said those in government always had the sole objective of misleading the youth of Pakistan.

The allocation of Rs5 billion to madrassas was aimed at achieving the dirty objectives, Fazl said and added that they did not want any relief for the religious educational institutions from the government.

It is not the first time that Fazl has warned the government against interfering in the affairs of madrassas. Previously, he had said that the days of the Imran Khan-led government would be numbered if he opted for a confrontation with madrassas. “Opposition to madrassas is akin to opposition to religion,” he had said.