Over 30,000 Madressahs to be ‘mainstreamed’

RAWALPINDI: More than 30,000 Madressahs in the country would be mainstreamed with the incorporation of contemporary subjects to their curriculum, said Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor, the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), on Monday.Addressing a wide-ranging news conference here, Maj-Gen Ghafoor lamented 25 million children in Pakistan were currently out of schools, and those children then go to Madressahs. “There are over 30,000 Madressahs in Pakistan and 2.5 million children receive an education here,” he said.He said the government and support institutions had decided to mainstream all these Madressahs and they would be brought under the Ministry of Education.Maj-Gen Ghafoor told journalists the Army chief had engaged with Ulema from all schools of thought on the matter and they all agreed it was necessary to mainstream Madressahs and that contemporary education must be taught.The syllabus for Madressahs would not include hate speech and ensure respect for other sects, said the military spokesman.He added Madressah students, after completing their studies, would have degrees and the same opportunities as the students studying in private schools. He said at the start of the mainstreaming process, Rs2 billion would be required and then Rs1 billion would be needed annually.The military spokesman began his news conference while speaking about the Pulwama incident and India’s baseless allegations against Pakistan. “Since the last two months, India has been telling countless lies. As a responsible country, we have not responded to their lies. Lies have to be repeated again and again. Truth only needs to be spoken once,” the DG ISPR asserted.Dismissing Indian claims of massive causalities in Balakot, Maj-Gen Ghafoor said there was no damage done and local and international media had been taken to the site to show them the truth. “We will facilitate Indian media if they choose to come to Balakot to see the truth,” he offered.He also clarified why he had initially said two Indian pilots had been captured. “When there is a war you receive reports from the ground. When I came to the press conference, I tweeted based on reports that there were two pilots. After the news conference, reports were clear that there was one pilot. How is it that you [India] are ready to accept onereports were clear that there was one pilot. How is it that you [India] are ready to accept one of our statements and not the other?”The DG ISPR said Pakistan was waiting for the appropriate time to honour its pilots who had downed the Indian planes. The military spokesman warned India not to test the country’s resolve as the Pakistan Army would defend the people of Pakistan whenever required.Speaking on the Kashmir issue, the military spokesman said support for the Kashmiri people “runs in our veins.” “It is in our veins to support our Kashmiri brethren in their independence.”“There is a continuous struggle for supporting Kashmiris so they get their rights,” he said, adding: “If India is sincere for peace in the region, they should hold talks and resolve the Kashmir issue.”Speaking on the landscape changing post 9/11, the DG ISPR said power struggle in the region was present not only due to geopolitics but also on geo-economy. “International powers wanted to force Pakistan to make policies according to their agendas.”Maj-Gen Ghafoor said: “Today we can say with conviction, evidence and logic that there is no organised terrorist infrastructure present in Pakistan.”Speaking about the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), the DG ISPR said: “We worked on their genuine demands. We cleared the unexploded mines from the area. We deployed 48 teams, as many as 45 per cent areas were cleared from the mines. We launched awareness campaigns in the area to tell people which areas they shouldn’t visit because of the presence of unexploded bombs. Indeed they suffered casualties. We also suffered 101 casualties during the clear up operation. Why did the casualties happen?”He said the PTM’s second demand was related to checkpoints. “The Pakistan Army is of the entire community. We don’t go with which province a soldier belongs to. Over 6,000 soldiers were martyred in the operations. They were not of one province, soldiers were from Karachi, Balochistan, Sialkot. He [the soldier] gave his life not for his family but for the country. They [PTM] talk about protecting Pashtuns, where were they when people were being slaughtered and football was being played with the slaughtered heads. Where were Mohsin Dawar, Ali Wazir and Manzoor Pashteen?”Their third demand was missing persons, with the DG ISPR stating the legal commission had identified nearly 2,500 cases. “It’s not their demand. The demand is of Pashtun brothers. The PTM doesn’t even live there. The local people have genuine problems there.”Having commented on the three demands of the PTM, the DG ISPR then put the following questions to them:“How much funds you have collected in donations from abroad, it is more than what you have shown on the website?”March 22, 2018 – how much funds NDS provided them to continue their sit-in?Islamabad sit-in: How much funds RAW provided them?April 18, 2018 – Who was Manzoor Pashteen’s relative who went to the Indian consulate, Kandahar? And how much funds were provided to them? How much in funds did the Indian consulate in Jalalabad provide to them? How many dollars did Indian diplomats give to them in May 2018?March 31, 2019 – “How much funds did NDS provide to you for Arman Luni’s funeral? What do you mean Lar-o-Bar? Why did Mashal Khan Takkar come to Kabul from Canada? What is the connection with Baloch separatist? In what capacity did the PTM say it will receive SP Tahir Dawar’s body?“What constitution allows you to go to Afghanistan by force to take the body? Why does any person who speaks for the Pakistan Army be killed immediately? Why does TTP’s Mufti Noor Wali say PTM and TTP are the same? Why do you share the narrative with them?”

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