GUWAHATI: Perturbed over the growing public suspicion that Islamic educational institutes are safe havens of unwanted elements, the Darul Uloom Banskandi Madrasa in southern Assam’s Barak Valley has made it mandatory for students to submit documentary evidence that their families have been living in India before 1971.
This comes at a time when the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is being updated in Assam, with March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date. This means illegal immigrants, who entered Assam after the NRC cut-off date, will be detected and deported.
establishing that their family members have been living in the country from before 1971. They also will have to submit proofs of permanent residency and voter’s identity card in the case of those who are aged 18 years and have voted in an election,” the 121-year-old madrasa said in a statement.
The institute said it had introduced the stricter admission rules as some sections of the society viewed madrasas as safe havens of the immigrants,
Islamic fundamentalists and jihadi elements.
The madrasas in Assam came under the scanner a few years ago following the arrest of about a dozen people in connection with the Burdwan blast in West Bengal. The arrested persons were found to be either members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) or had links with the terror group.
Intelligence agencies in Assam suspect that the seeds of Islamist fundamentalism are sown in madrasas. Of Assam’s estimated 1,470 madrasas, some 815 of them are registered.