Owaisi's sharp reaction after Uttarakhand CM says madrasas' survey is necessary

The decision of the two state governments has sparked a political row as the Opposition has slammed the ruling BJP, alleging the move was meant to harass Muslims.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday sharply reacted hours after Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said a survey of madrasas in the state is necessary. Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government also directed to conduct a survey of "unrecognized" madarsas in the state to collect information about the number of teachers, curriculum, and basic facilities available there, among others.

Owaisi had earlier termed the survey a “Mini-NRC” (National Register of Citizens). (ANI)

Describing them as "targeted surveys" and "wrong", Owaisi, said, “It's a targeted survey against the Muslim community. The survey of private schools, missionary schools, government schools, RSS schools should happen. Doing surveys of unaided madrasas is a targeted survey and is wrong.”

The decision of the two state governments has sparked a political row as the Opposition has slammed the ruling BJP, alleging the move was meant to harass Muslims.

Dhami announcing the decision on Tuesday said the survey of madrasas in the state is necessary as "all sorts of things" are coming to the fore about them.

Uttar Pradesh, which first announced the decision two weeks ago, stated that the survey will help identify unrecognised madrasas and gather information about their curriculum, facilities and affiliations.

Hitting out at the Yogi Adityanath government earlier, Owaisi had said the state has no right to interfere in the functioning of madrasas as they are private-run and termed the survey a “Mini-NRC” (National Register of Citizens).

(With inputs from agencies)