In Assam, now local residents demolish madrasa after imam’s arrest for terror
Authorities in Assam have demolished three private madrasas in Barpeta, Morigaon and Bongaigaon districts after arrests of its functionaries on terror charges over the last month
GUWAHATI: Residents of Darogar Alga village in Assam’s Goalpara district on Tuesday demolished a private madrasa that was used by an imam arrested by the police for alleged links to the Bangladesh-based terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), police said.
This is the first instance of the public pulling down a madrasa in Assam in recent weeks. So far, the authorities have demolished three private madrasas in Barpeta, Morigaon and Bongaigaon districts after arrests of its functionaries on terror charges over the last month
“Residents of Darogar Alga in Pakhiura Char destroyed the madrasa and a residence next to it on Tuesday morning as resentment against jihadi activities. The madrasa was used by Jalaluddin Sheikh, an imam of a local mosque who was arrested by police last month,” said VV Rakesh Reddy, superintendent of Goalpara police.
Jalaluddin Sheikh was one of the two imams arrested on August 20 by the police in Goalpara about 150km east of Guwahati on charges that they were linked to terror cells busted in Barpeta and Morigaon districts earlier. Authorities had then alleged that the two were linked to ABT and Al Qaida in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), gave and received logistical support to other terrorists and recruited people for what was described as “new jihadi sleeper cells in Goalpara”.
Also Read: What’s behind the demolitions of three madrasas in Assam?
According to police, Jalaluddin Sheikh also engaged two AQIS/ABT cadre from Bangladesh, Aminul Islam and Jahangir Alom, as teachers in the madrasa at Darogar Alga in Pakhiura Char that was brought down by local residents on Tuesday.
“Both Bangladeshi nationals entered India illegally, stayed in the madrasa and the nearby residence for almost a year. They had set up a jihadi network in the area under the garb of teaching in the madrasa,” said Reddy.
Reddy said that some madrasas linked to alleged terror operatives had been demolished in other parts of Assam but “there was no plan to demolish the Darogar Alga, Pakhiura Char madrasa by the local administration”.
According to local residents, they were not aware that the madrasa was being used for terror activities and that it was a collective decision to remove the madrasa and the residence.
“We came to know about the happenings here only after the arrest of Jalaluddin Sheikh and decided to remove both structures. The two Bangladeshi nationals were engaged as teachers in the madrasa. Both fled before we came to know about their antecedents and activities,” said a local resident.
Videos of the demolition made available by the Assam Police showed residents pulling down the bamboo walls and removing the tin sheets used to construct the roof.
To be sure, the official reason cited for the demolition of the three madrasas by the authorities after the arrest of madrasa functionaries was not their alleged terror links.
According to official orders for the demolitions, the buildings were either structurally vulnerable, unsafe for human habitation, violated building guidelines, built on public land or had an illegal power connection.
The madrasa demolished in the Bongaigaon district on August 31, for instance, was pulled down on grounds that it was “structurally vulnerable, unsafe for human habitation” and not built as per specified norms. It took the administration several bulldozers and nearly two days to demolish the concrete structure.
Lok Sabha MP and president of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) Badruddin Ajmal has called the use of bulldozers to demolish these madrasas illegal.
According to police records, there are around 3,000 private madrasas in Assam.
On Sunday, office bearers of several organisations operating madrasas in Assam had a detailed discussion with senior Assam police officers where it was decided to set up a committee to come up with norms for regulating private madrasas.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma last month said that madrasas were the hub of all jihadi terror detected in recent months and announced that the government will make it mandatory for imams and teachers from outside the state to register with the administration.
He later added that though the government didn’t plan to go on a demolition spree, the administration will take “the strongest possible action” in case of inputs of a madrasa being used for anti-India activity.