Assam: Another madrasa demolished over alleged links to terror outfits

The madrasa was built on private land, but it was constructed without following necessary provisions and permits.

Guwahati: A private madrasa in Assam’s Bongaigaon district was demolished on Wednesday over alleged links with Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Bangladesh-based terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), police said.

This was the third private madrasa to be razed this month for alleged jihadi links. (ANI image)

This was the third private madrasa to be razed this month for alleged connections with terror outfits.

The demolition came days after a teacher of the madrasa, Hafizur Rahman, was arrested on August 26. Rahman was arrested on the basis of information provided by two imams who were nabbed in neighbouring Goalpara district on August 21 for alleged links with the terror groups. The imams, however, were local residents and not from outside the state, police had earlier said.

“We started the process of demolishing the madrasa at Kabaitari in Bongaigaon on Wednesday morning following recovery of incriminating documents, suggesting links with jihadi groups, during a raid on Tuesday,” district superintendent of police (SP) Swapnaneel Deka said.

“Besides, the madrasa on private land was constructed without following necessary provisions and permits. Hence, it was demolished under provisions of the Disaster Management Act,” the SP said.

On Monday, a private madrasa in Barpeta district was razed by authorities. Likewise, another private institution in Morigaon district was brought down on August 4. The two institutions were demolished amid allegations that they were being used for jihadi activities by members of AQIS and ABT.

Hitting out at the state government, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief and Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal said his party will go to the Supreme Court if the demolition drive against madrasas continues.

“We can’t accept the Assam government’s bulldozer drive against madrasas in the state. It should be stopped. If necessary, we will move the Supreme Court or any other (court) against it,” he told news agency ANI.

“There may be some anti-social people in the Muslim community and the government should take action against the bad elements. We have no issue with it. But using a bulldozer in a madrasa cannot be accepted,” he added.

Ajmal also alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are “targeting” Muslims.

The BJP said the demolition action against madrasas were taken on the basis of specific inputs on alleged terror activities.

“The state government is taking action against certain madrasas based on specific inputs and also following arrests of persons connected to them and believed to have jihadi links. I am surprised why Ajmal is so pained at that. Does he support such jihadi activities and if he does, the government will take action against him as well,” state BJP spokesperson Rupam Goswami said.

There was no immediate reaction from authorities of the madrasa at the time of filing this report.

Since March this year, Assam police has arrested around 40 people, including a Bangladeshi national, over alleged links with both the terror outfits and purported attempts to set up jihadi sleeper cells in the state.

Earlier this month, chief minister Sarma claimed that Assam has become a hotbed of “jihadi activities” as five “jihadi” modules with links to Al Qaida-affiliated terror outfits in Bangladesh were busted in the past four months.

“Interestingly, the hub of all these activities, as of now, appears to be madrasas. I am not generalising, but whoever has been arrested till date have had some connection with madrasas or were acting as preachers in some mosques,” he said.

He later announced that police verification and online registration will soon become mandatory for imams and madrasa teachers from outside the state.