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Owaisi's jibe at Assam CM for his remark on madrassas: ‘Unlike Shakhas, they…’
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said the word "madrassa" should cease to exist while stressing the "general education" in schools for all.
All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday hit back at Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over the BJP leader’s sharp criticism of madrassas, saying they teach self-respect and empathy “unlike Shakhas”. Taking to Twitter, Owaisi said that the Assam CM is “busy with hate speech” when 18 people have died in the state and seven lakh have been affected due to floods.
Earlier at an event in Delhi, Sarma argued that children won’t be able to think about becoming doctors and engineers as long as “madrassas” exist. He further stated that the word ‘madrassa’ should “vanish”, claiming that children are admitted to a madrassa “in violation of human rights”.
“Nobody is saying don’t teach the Quran (Islamic holy book). But more than that, a student should be taught science, math, biology, botany and zoology,” Sarma said. “Give religious teachings for 2-3 hours. But in schools, a student should be taught in a manner so that he can become an engineer or a doctor.”
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Reacting to Sarma’s remark, the AIMIM president said that many madrassas teach science, math and social studies besides Islam and were at the forefront of India’s freedom movement when “Sanghis were acting as British agents”.
“Unlike Shakhas, they teach self-respect & empathy. Illiterate Sanghis wouldn’t understand. Why did Hindu social reformer Raja Ram Mohun Roy study in a madrasa?” Owaisi tweeted. “Obsessing over Muslim ancestry shows your inferiority complex. Muslims have enriched India & will continue to do so.”
In 2020, when Sarma was the education minister, the Assam government decided to dissolve all state-run madrassas and convert them into “regular schools” for general education. The assembly passed a law repealing the Madrassa Education Provincialisation Act, 1955, and Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Re-organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018 in a bid to “reform the education system to make it secular”.
The Gauhati High Court this year upheld the law and the subsequent orders and communication of the state government.
