‘Politics of polarisation’: Congress attacks Dhami for drive against madrasas
Uttarakhand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt said the people of the state will give a befitting reply to the Congress for supporting the illegal madrasas
DEHRADUN: The Congress on Tuesday criticised the Uttarakhand government for going on an overdrive to shut down unregistered madrasas in the state, accusing the state government of targeting a particular community, prompting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to attack the opposition for minority appeasement.
“It is clearly targeting a particular community. They (government) have been indulging in the politics of polarisation,” Uttarakhand Congress vice president Suryakant Dhasmana said on Tuesday, reacting to the state government releasing its status report on the action against madrasa in the state.
On Sunday, the Uttarakhand government declared in a statement that district authorities across the state had sealed over 170 unregistered madrasas over the last two months.
Dhasmana said it was clear that the state’s crackdown was aimed at Muslims. Why else do chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and other BJP leaders only mention madrasas in their speeches rather than just mention unregistered educational institutions, he asked.
“Madrasas are also educational institutions. They don’t act against any educational institution of the majority community that is operating without the mandatory registration,” the Congress leader said.
Uttarakhand BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Bhatt hit back. “The Congress leaders have crossed all limits of appeasement for vote bank politics. The people of the state will give them a befitting reply for coming out in support of the illegal madrasas,” Bhatt said.
Maulana Muqeem Qasmi of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) said the government was also sealing ‘maktab’ (traditional Islamic elementary school) that provide religious education for a few hours and don’t come under the definition of a madrasa.
“Of the 17 institutions sealed in Haldwani, 8 of them are maktabs. The children who studied in them are being deprived of their rights to acquire traditional and religious knowledge.” Qasmi, the JUH’s Nainital district president, said.
The government started the drive against “illegal” madrasas, following instructions from Dhami in December last year. The chief minister’s office announced on March 24 that the authorities would not stop with sealing the illegal institutions but also conduct a thorough probe into their funding.
According to the state government, there were around 600-800 madrasas in the state. Of which, 415 are affiliated with the Uttarakhand Madrassa Board, 117 come under the purview of Uttarakhand Waqf Board and the remaining were unregistered.
Uttarakhand has 13.9 % Muslim population according to the 2011 census, mostly in Terai area. Haridwar and US Nagar districts have over 34 % and 22 % Muslim population respectively.
