LAHORE: A convention of clerics held under the auspices of Pakistan Ulema Council here on Sunday adopted a 10-point code of conduct for administration, faculty and students of mosques and seminaries with the council and for Wafaqul Masajid Pakistan.

The code binds the seminary administration to keep complete bio-data of their students, teaching staff and other employees and refuse admission to foreign students except Afghans, who too would have to produce refugee cards issued to them by Pakistan government. The code also binds the seminaries’ administration to provide their students an opportunity to take part in extra-curricular activities.

The registered seminaries will also be required to maintain their annual audit record and those in the registration process should keep application/receipts with updated status.

These will ensure proper security and scrutinise details of guests visiting the seminary and/or its students and showing zero tolerance for illegal weapons.

It will be the responsibility of the seminary administration to inform people on curriculum and educational philosophy of the seminary to negate biased propaganda against seminaries and education of the seminaries.

It will also keep a close coordination with tehsil/district administration to avert any sort of confusion and misunderstanding and on visit of secret and security department’s personnel to the seminary.

The mosques associated with Wafaqul Masajid will discourage unfair use of loudspeakers and ensure implementation of the law in this regard.

During Friday sermons, Dars-i-Quran and other congregations, clerics will not pass abusive or vicious remarks against other sects.

Earlier at the convention, clerics said that Madaris and mosques had no linkage with terrorism and extremism and prevailing countrywide campaign for eradication of terrorism, extremism and sectarian violence would be carried out in an organised manner. They also emphasised that Muslim youths should be guided against Takfiri ideologies to foil propaganda of extremist organisations against Quran, Sunnah and Jihad and also demanded of the government to ensure implementation of the National Action Plan.

They also demanded of the government to release all those detained religious leaders who had been taken into custody on the ground of suspicions.

The convention held at Jamia Masjid Makki (Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park) was presided over by Pakistan Ulema Council chairman Hafiz Maulana Tahir Ashrafi.

Speaking on this occasion, ulema said that extremism and terrorism should not be associated with seminaries and mosques.

Maulana Ashrafi said that some elements wanted to create chaos in the country and were responsible for killing of women, children and innocent people by creating tragedies like Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park incident.

He said that some anti-state elements were hatching conspiracies to create mistrust and distance among security agencies and religious leadership, adding that all political and religious leaders were united against terrorism, extremism and sectarian violence.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2016