Minister for Hajj and Auqaf, Education and Tribal Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today appealed the religious leaders to take lead in reviving the value-based society through their teachings.He said that from generations these institutions have helped inculcate values and morals among the people, spreading ideals of universal brotherhood, tolerance, respect and care for elderly and compassion for the weak. He stressed upon the Ullema that besides imparting religious knowledge they should use their influence for spreading moral values for betterment of society at large, which is witnessing a systemic moral degradation.He was speaking at a meeting of Ullema of Rajouri here at Dak bungalow. Ulema from different parts of the district under the banner of Anjuman Ulema e Ahle Sunnat attended the meet. Notable among them were Ghulam Rasool, Abdul Rauf, Mohammad Farooq, Abdul Khaliq, Ghulam Yaseen and Ghulam Mohiudin.Senior district administration functionaries including Deputy Commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, ACR Abdul Qayoom Mir, Special Officer Auqaf Raj Mohammad and Administrator Auqaf Islamia Rajouri Abdul Qayoom Dar were also present.The participants informed the Minster about the challenges confronting Madrasas, including system of teaching and pedagogy, recruitment and emoluments of Imams, Molvis & Khateeb, and paucity of funds for various functional purposes.
Responding to the issues, the minister said the government under the leadership of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is keen to give due recognition to the services of Ulemas in the state and this can be achieved by giving a institutional set up to them. In this regard, he said process for formulation of J&K Madrasa board has already been started, prototype worked out and efforts are underway to carve out an institution much at par with Madrasa boards in other states of the country.He further said that there is an immediate need to bring in some order in the functioning of Madrasa and Madrasa boards are the inevitable options. Addressing the participants, the Minister emphasised that Madrasa boards will help in dealing with a whole gamut of things including preparation of syllabi; certification of course, set eligibility criteria for practice, categorisation and remuneration of ulemas, scrutinising, grading and payment of Imams and Khateebs.The Minster also said that the government is very much concerned about safeguarding the Auqaf property in the state and for retrieving the encroached Auqaf land. The land retrieved is planned to be used for creating valuable assets which could provide the necessary capital source for funding organisation and functioning of mosques and madarsas, he added.