India court effectively bans madrasahs in big state before election

Robert Tripathi, a spokeswoman for Uttar Pradesh BJP, which runs the express state, said it was not against imams and was concerned about the training of Muslim pupils.

” We are not against any seminary but we are against unfair practices. We are against unlawful funding, and the state will decide on more actions after going through the judge’s buy”.

Modi’s company did not immediately respond to an email on Saturday seeking opinion on the court decision.

” I AM Frightened”

Arguing for the federal government, which was a participant in the case, Sudhanshu Chauhan told the jury that “religious learning and religious instructions of a second religion cannot be included in college education and the state government has no power to create legal education boards permitting spiritual education”.

He said the government was never planning to resurrect a national plan stopped in March 2022 that had provided resources to imams to teach topics like mathematics and science.

Madrasah standard Javed, national director of the BJP’s majority aircraft, said that as a Muslim he is often caught between the interests of his group and people of his society. He said he has been fielding numerous calls from fellow Muslims since Friday’s order, which came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

” Sometimes it becomes very difficult”, he said. ” I have to balance a lot because, being a Muslim, the party sends me to the community to convince them to vote for us and join the party. I am scared and I walk with personal security whenever I go to any public event or programme”.

The BJP’s Tripathi responded that Muslim BJP leaders had no reason to fear because their community equally benefits from various government welfare programmes.

” I am Hindu and I visit the Muslim community often and get good support from them”, he said. ” The fact is that the BJP and the government is very serious about education and it’s doing its best”.

The BJP’s de facto parent organisation has been installing Muslims loyal to it in leadership positions at India’s Muslim universities as part of a push to garner Muslim votes.

The Uttar Pradesh government halted a funding programme for madrasahs in January, making 21, 000 teachers jobless. Friday’s order applies to all madrasahs in the state, whether funded privately or by the government, Javed said.

The court did not give a timeline for its order, but Javed said madrasahs are unlikely to be closed right away.

The northeastern state of Assam, also ruled by the BJP, has been converting hundreds of madrasahs into conventional schools.