On October 26, Vishwa Hindu Parishad members staged a protest against a Madarsa in Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh, falsely accusing the management of “foreign funding”, “cow slaughter”, “religious conversion” and “love-jihad”. Members of the right-wing group also handed a 5-pointer complaint to DM citing “the game of conversion” and demanding the “arrest of the accused” without any proof.
A Hindutva leader, surrounded by his supporters in front of the DM Office, demanded quick action against the Muslims who study and teach in the Madarsa.
“If the administration does not take action within 15 days, we will again protest against them,” the VHP leader said in rage accusing Muslims of “land Jihad” and “love Jihad”.
The VHP protest was held between slogans, tons of fluttering saffron flags, flashy posters and heavy police deployment on the street.
Attempts To ‘Abolish Madarsas’: From CM To DM
Recently, the district Magistrate of Kaushambi also declared to write a letter to RBI regarding the “investigation of funding” in Madarsas” and demanded to take “strict action” as in September, CM Yogi ordered DMs to embark on a “survey” regarding the same.
Earlier, in July the Uttar Pradesh government also announced a biometric attendance system for the Madrasa Board to “supervise” and “check” alleged “terrorist links” of young innocent students, who are just in the early phase of education. In April, CM Adityanath Yogi declared to close more than 16,000 Madarsas and instructed the administration to transfer them to government schools.
As a primary centre of Arabic and Islamic studies along with cultural ethos and prevalent subjects, the Madarsa board is often seen with jingoist, discriminatory and hateful perspectives by Islamophobic parties. Madrasas in UP are already confronting stark concerns and are mostly led by Zakat, Sadqah or private funding by devoted Indian Muslim educators. They are also the centres of free education for marginalized Muslim students across the state.
