SUKKUR: Jamiat Ulemai-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Sindh General Secretary Maulana Rashid Mehmood Soomro has said that his party does not like imposition of a ban on student politics. Students should be encouraged to seek academic and religious education to have a better understanding of all spheres of life, including politics, he said.

Maulana Soomro was addressed the convention of the Sukkur chapter of his party`s student wing, Jamiat Talaba-i-Islam (JTI), at the Islamic Centre here on Sunday. He stressed the needfor animprovededucation system, and said students should be provided free education up to the university level. He dispelled the impression that seminaries were against teaching English to their students, arguing that seminaries did have English as a subject in their curriculum.

`There is no harm in learning and studying English but one should not become an anti-Islam or anti-religion person,` he said. He said seminaries taught Islam because it was a religion of peace, love and brotherhood, and provided best safeguards to a person irrespective of his race, caste or belief.

Maulana Soomro condemn propaganda against seminaries and termed it a conspiracy to malign Islam and Muslims. He said antiIslam forces were targeting beard and turban without any justification.

He also criticised the Sindh government for causing great harm to education and educational institutions in the province. Quality education, he observed, had become beyond affordability of the lower and middle class.

`The standard of education at government institutions in Sindh is lowest as compared to that being maintained by all other provinces,` he said.

The PPP, he said, could not bring about any improvement despite having ruled over the province for four decades. JTI activist Naseeruddin Ehrar, Mufti Saud Afzal Halejvi, Maulana Mohammed Sualeh Indhar and others also spoke.