LUCKNOW: The state minister for Haj and Waqf in Yogi Adityanath cabinet on Tuesday said that the government would plan to introduce dress code for madrasas students to bring them at par with students of other government and private institutions.
"The government plans to do away with the traditional kurta-pyjama which is worn informally by the Madrasa students and replace it with shirt and trousers as a proper uniform like other educational institutions," said Mohsin Raza, minister for Haj and waqf in UP government.
The minister claimed that after introducing the NCERT books to the Madarsa curriculum, a proper dress code would bring the Madarsa students into the academic mainstream.The motive to introduce NCERT syllabus making subjects like physics and mathematics compulsory, at the level of higher education was to make the Madarsa students well acquainted with higher science subjects along with Islamic theology and religious laws, he said.
"The government move over uniform will bring the Madarsa students at par with their counterparts in other government and private institutions," said Raza adding that the minority students were cheated and deliberately kept backward by the governments since 1947.The move is part of Yogi government's push for modernising and overhaul of the Madrasas affiliated with the state board.
"A proper dress code instead of a particular type of kurta pajama will inculcate confidence among the students of madarsas," said the minister.Though the decision is in nascent stage and is yet to be formalised, the move had a few takers in the minority community. The muslim clerics and maulanas felt that it was undue interference in the minority affairs in the name of 'sabka saath sabka vikas.Responding to government's perspective, convener of the Babri Masjid Action Committee Zafaryab Jilani said the move would widen the communal divide in the society. He felt that it was only a tactic of UP government to divert people's attention from its failures.