The Punjab government Friday took administrative control of a mosque-and-seminary complex in Bahawalpur that is believed to have been the headquarters of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).
“The Government of Punjab has taken over the control of a campus comprising Madressatul Sabir and Jama-e-Masjid Subhanallah in Bahawalpur and appointed an administrator to manage its affairs,” a statement issued by the interior ministry said. Punjab police has taken over security of the campus, it added.
A subsequent statement issued by the interior ministry explained that although Indian media outlets are linking the Bahawalpur complex to a JeM training centre, the facility is “purely a madressah and Jamia Masjid (central mosque) where scores of orphans and students from underprivileged families are receiving religious and worldly education.” The campus has a 70-strong faculty and more than 650 students enrolled.
The statement revealed that Bahawalpur Deputy Commissioner Shozaib Saeed and Bahawalpur SP Saleem Niazi paid a ‘surprise visit’ to the campus and surveyed all of its buildings and the facilities. According to the statement, the complex provides worldly education until grade 6, and following secondary and intermediate schooling, the students are provided bachelors- and masters-level education leading to Dars-e-Nizami. A large number of Bahawalpur residents bear the expenses of the madressah through alms and charity, and provide its pupils with rice and grain at no cost.
Published in Daily Times, February 23rd 2019.
