PESHAWAR, Jan 5: The Wafaqul Madaris Al-Arabia Pakistan here on Thursday criticised Interior Minister Rehman Malik for issuing a statement about demolishing unregistered seminaries and threatened to bring 2.5 million religious students on roads if the minister didn’t apologise.

“The government is trying to create hatred among religious groups on sectarian basis but ulema will not fall prey to these conspiracies,” MPA Mufti Kifayatullah, the deputy chief of Wafaqul Madaris, told a press conference at Peshawar Press Club. He said that 2.5 million students, both male and female, were studying in the registered seminaries.

“The interior minister has said that government will demolish the unregistered seminars next month but he has not thought the possible reaction of his statement,” he said.

The MPA, also deputy parliamentary leader of JUI-F in the provincial assembly, said that interior minister was following agenda of some other people but it was not in the interest of country.

“It is the duty of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to order inquiry into the matter as to why Mr Malik is bent upon provoking religious students,” he said.

Referring to the murder of a seminary student in Karachi, Mufti Kifayat said that it was result of a minor incident but police were reluctant to arrest the main accused in the case.

The religious seminaries, he said, were creating religious awareness among people and the students were playing role for ideological protection of the country.

About the revival of Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal, the JUI-F leader said that his party wanted to bring all religious groups on a single platform as it was need of the hour because majority of National Assembly members were secular and only 10 of them belonged to religious parties. In such a situation bringing in a change was impossible, he added.

He said that the vote bank of Jamaat-i-Islami was affected owing to its boycott of last general elections but the party was still demanding 50 per seats for revival of MMA.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he claimed, JUI-F was the second biggest party after ANP and the demands of JI were not based on justice.