
The curious case of sprouting madrasas
Indian security agencies see a design in the rapid growth of the number of mosques and madrasas (seminaries) on both sides of the India-Nepal border. The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which guards the border on the Indian side, estimates there are about 2,000 mosques and madrasas on the Indian side and over 820 in Nepal. Most of them are said to have sprung up in the past seven to eight years. In 2000, the Indian Task Force on Border Management had put the figures at only 343 mosques and 300 madrasas within 10 km of the border on the Indian side, and 282 mosques and 181 madrasas on the Nepal side.
A communiqué dated May 14, 2007 issued by the SSB inspector-general (Patna frontier) to senior officers in Bihar states: “Their plan is to build mosques and madrasas along the Indo-Nepal border to facilitate and enforce a Taliban-type system in the community.”
Matin Salfi, chairman of the Tauheed Educational Trust that runs over 15 madrasas in Kishanganj, however, counters this: “Such rumours are being spread by certain communal elements for the past six years to demoralise the Muslims. I know that a number of madrasas and mosques have come up in this area, but they are only for a noble cause.”
But many disagree. Ajay Singh, BJP MLA from the Raxaul constituency, says: “There is no problem with the construction of mosques, but the strategic manner in which they are proliferating along the border, highways and important places is indicative of evil designs.”
The children in the madrasas are believed to be told not to watch television or movies, as these spread an “un-Islamic culture”. On this, Salfi says, “People here are very poor, they can’t afford TV, radio or the Internet... Anyway I am against co-education and commercial education.” But when asked from where do these poor people get huge funds to construct the madrasas or mosques, he says: “Some businessmen from trade hubs like Murshidabad in West Bengal have been supporting us.”

Batla House: Ariz Khan held guilty of killing inspector
- Additional sessions judge Sandeep Yadav convicted 35-year-old Khan, also known as Junaid, Salim and Anna

National farmers’ database on anvil
- The database uses Aadhaar-based data generated from key farm sector programmes such as PM-KISAN.

Prominent warnings at IGI against carrying bullets soon
- Police data shows that some of the 522 passengers nabbed in last 5 years while carrying live bullets in their bags claimed they had done so unknowingly

Is the Haryana Act legal?
- Private firms will likely claim that the law interferes with their constitutional rights to carry on trade freely

Why reservation may fail in levelling the field
- From SC-ST social groups, reservations have expanded to OBCs, economically weaker sections

Record GST collections expected in March
- The revenue in March may cross the record Rs.1,19,875 crore collected in January by at least Rs.10,000 crore.

Report on probe against DU V-C Tyagi likely today
- Officials said that an inquiry committee, constituted by the Visitor of Delhi University (DU), the President of India, held its final meeting.

MP assembly nod to anti-conversion bill
- BJP MLAs supported the bill and called it a gift for women on the occasion of Women’s Day

Anti-spam tech halts OTP texts for some
- The technology requires telecoms companies to scrub messages to verify if the text being sent has been approved and it is only being sent to someone who has consented to receive such a message.

On their day, women farmers helm the stir at all sites on Delhi borders
- Throughout the day, women protesters organised marches at the sites while wearing yellow, green scarves

Activists flag concerns over debris dumping on Yamuna floodplains
- Responding to HT on Monday, CPWD denied all allegations that the waste from the Central Vista construction site was being dumped on the floodplains.

After almost 25 years, women deployed aboard Indian warships
- Two women officers each have been assigned duties aboard INS Vikramaditya and INS Shakti.

9 killed in blaze at multi-storeyed building in Kolkata
- The fire had broken out at the 13th floor of the Eastern Railway’s office in the evening.

Best role played by anyone during pandemic that of mothers: Education Minister

'Does 50% reservation limit need a relook?' SC asks states after 29 years
- The apex court framed this as one among the several questions to be decided while considering the constitutional validity of a 2018 Maharashtra law.