The leaders of Pakistan’s largest network of madrassas have condemned an attempt to organize an inter-madrassa cricket tournament in Pakistan as a conspiracy against the Islamic seminaries. They also called for a boycott of the tournament. Cricket is the most popular sport in South Asia.
The Urdu newspaper Roznama Jasarat quoted the leaders of Wafaq-ul-Madaris Arabia Pakistan and Jamiat Ahle-Sunnat as saying that a move by an Islamabad-based NGO to organize a cricket tournament between madrassas is a conspiracy against the religious seminaries. The Wafaq-ul-Madaris Arabia controls the largest number of madrassas in Pakistan.
According to the report, the madrassa leaders said, ‘‘None of our madrassas will take part in the cricket tournament and if anyone did, we will take action against it as per the rules.’’ These views were expressed during a press conference by the Deputy Secretary of Wafaq-ul-Madaris Arabia Pakistan Maulana Qazi Abdur Rashid and several Ulema.
Source: Roznama Jasarat, Pakistan, April 5, 2008
