It can be no body’s case that foreign students enrol only in the recognised madrasas which are said to be some 20,000 plus. For every one recognised madrasas, statistically speaking, there are two or more unrecognized madrasas in Punjab itself. How many foreign students are landing in these unrecognised religious teaching shops? It can only be a matter of conjecture and consequent concern.  Put differently Pakistani religious schools are not only spreading sectarian hatred at home but are also exporting. 

Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat’s central secretary general Dr Khadim Hussain Dhillon doesn’t see an expired visa as an issue vis-à-vis religious education. “Visa status should not matter when it comes to religious education. Expired visas are no justification for deporting foreign students, he told the Express Tribune.

In contrast, Tanzeemul Madaris president and Ruet-i-Hilal Committee chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman made the sensible point that the student and the respective seminaries were responsible for getting an extension or renewing the visa. “The process should be initiated before the visa expires, not after,” he said. Obviously, he is in a minority because other Madrasa leaders like Qari Hanif Jalandhary, the Wafaqul Madaris secretary general, and the mohtmam of Jamia Naeemia, Dr Raghib Naeemi are into denial mode. We had checked the visas of all foreign students and none of the visas had expired, said Naeemi. 

There is no gain saying the fact that in its own interest Pakistan government must come to grips with the problems and challenges thrown up by the report. Simultaneously, it must address the much larger issue of their teaching, management practices and living conditions of students. Only last month (December 2011) Karachi police rescued around 45 students mainly of Pakhtun ethnicity from the basement of a seminary in the Afghan camp.  A few drug addicts and mentally challenged persons were also among those who were recovered.