Earlier this week, the National Assembly was provided details on the number of seminaries receiving financial assistance from foreign countries. In response, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan provided a detailed and surprising written reply, which explained just how widespread madressahs run on foreign money were, especially in Punjab and Gilgit Baltistan.

PPP lawmaker Imran Zafar Leghari had framed the question thus: `Whether it is a fact that some seminaries/madrassahs in the country are receiving financial and other support [such as] training of clerics, teachers, curriculum development etc from some foreign Islamic countries.` The written answer, attributed to the interior minister, began: `Yes, reportedly some seminaries in the country were receiving fund-ing...

One of the most interesting details in the reply was the number of such madressahs in Punjab: 147 in all major districts of the province.

According to the minister`s response, an interesting mix of countries provide financial support to as many as 19 seminaries in the provincial capital alone. These included the brother Muslim countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, and Iran, but at least one leading seminary in Lahore also receives financial support from the US.

In neighboring Sheikhupura, where six such madressahs are said to be operating, two of them receive funding from Iran. Interestingly, one seminary each in Gujranwala and Hafizabad have reportedly been receiving funding from Turkey.

The number of madressahs that receive the bulk of their funding from Middle Eastern coun-tries stands at 25 in Faisalabad. Here, too, money came from above-mentioned countries, with one notableexception;onemadressahreceivesfunds from the UK.

As many as 13 seminaries in the sensitive district of Jhang, l
In nearby district Chiniot, 10 madressahs have been reportedly receiving money from abroad; three from Iran and the rest from Saudi Arabia. Of the six such seminaries in Toba Tek Singh, two were supported by UK and Turkey.

In Sargodha, the interior ministry reports that there are seven seminaries which have foreign donors; two are supported from Iran and one from South Africa, while the rest are funded by Sunni-majority Gulf States.

Neighboring districts Khushab, Mianwali andBhakkar each have four madressahs that are said to have contacts in Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, that provide them financial assistance.

A similar trend has been noticed in Multan (4), Khanewal (4), Sahiwal (4) Okara (5), Pakpattan (2) D.G. Khan (1), Muzaffargarh (2) and Rahim Yar Khan (8).

In Bahawalpur, according to Chaudhry Nisar`s response, 11 seminaries are receiving funds mainly from Sunni countries, except one that is supported from the UK.

The second highest concentration of such madressahs is in Gilgit-Baltistan. According to the interior minister`s estimate, there are 95 seminaries, half of which are funded by Saudi Arabia and the other half by Iran.

By contrast, Sindh only has one madressah that has been managing its operations on the basis of funding it received from Qatar.In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the interior minister said a total of 12 seminaries have reportedly received funds from abroad. Seven of these have sources of funding in Kuwait, while the rest receive money from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

However, in Balochistan, there are 30 madrassahs, spread all over the province, that receive financial assistance from abroad.

Here, the divide is very clear: 25 of these seminaries received money from Saudi Arabia, and five from Iran.

Speaking to Dawn off the record, a senior interior ministry official said that the task of madressah registration and keeping a check on their funding sources was so challenging that despite the launch of the National Action Plan last year, the government was were still in the process of preparing a pro forma for seminaries` registration.