LUCKNOW: Amid uproar and objections by the Muslim organisations to the UP government’s decision to get the survey of unrecognised madrasas done across the state, State Minister for Minority Welfare Dharampal Singh has set October 15 as the deadline to complete the exercise.
The minister has claimed that to conduct the survey, teams comprising the Sub-Judicial Magistrate (SDM), District Basic Shiksha Adhikari and District Minority Welfare Officer, will be finalised by September 10.
“The team will conduct the survey under the supervision of the Additional District Magistrate (ADM-
Administration) and submit its report to the District Magistrate concerned who will send the report to state administration by October 25,” said the minister.
He added that during the survey, the unrecognised madrasas would have to furnish their entire operational details like the name of the organisation running them and the source of income. “The exercise is being conducted to provide quality and advanced education to the students from the minority communities,” said Dharampal Singh.
On September 1, the minister of state for minority affairs, Danish Azad Ansari, said that the survey would be conducted as per the requirements of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) which wanted to check on basic facilities being provided to students in madrassas.
Earlier, a number of Muslim organisations, including the Lucknow based Majlis-e-Ulama-e-Hind, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), came out expressing their reservations over the state government’s move doubting its intent.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JuH), led by several clerics, held a meeting in Delhi on Tuesday and dubbed the UP government’s step as a “malicious attempt” to disparage the Madrasa system of Islamic education in the state.
Considering the fact that the decision to conduct the survey has not gone down well with the minority community, the ruling BJP has decided to reach out to the Madrasas rectors and prominent clerics to address their apprehension over the survey move.
As per the BJP sources, the party has entrusted its minority wing with inviting the rectors of unrecognized madrassas for a discussion over the state government’s move the intent of which was to gather information on the number of teachers, curriculum, and basic facilities like drinking water, furniture, electricity supply, toilet, etc available there and their affiliation with any non-government organisations.
Meanwhile, asserting to defend the Islamic seminaries 'at all costs', the Muslim clerics, at the Delhi meet held to “protect madrasas”, launched a helpline for madrassas in case they encountered "any issues" during the survey and set up a steering committee to look into the matter.
The Delhi meet was attended by over 200 madrassa rectors, including those from prestigious seminaries like Darul Uloom at Deoband, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, Mazahir Uloom, Saharanpur, and others.
In a statement issued after the meet, JuH said: "The meeting raised concerns about the (UP) government's retrograde mindset, which by adopting a combative approach causes confusion and fear among the populace and builds a barrier of mistrust between the communities."
The meeting noted that "such behaviour" of the state government was "completely unacceptable" and must stop as the madrassas continue to benefit the nation by educating youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Jamiat said it was agreed at the Delhi meeting that the madrassa system's laws and regulations needed internal revision.
In Lucknow, prominent Shia cleric and general secretary of Majlis-e-Ulama-e-Hind Maulana Kalbe Jawwad also expressed his displeasure demanding a survey of all institutions run by other religions. He said that the state government’s move to survey madrasas would inculcate discontent towards the dispensation. He asked the UP government to review its decision.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had also questioned the decision saying that the government was deliberately targeting minority institutions.
Moreover, Opposition parties like AIMIM had termed the survey as a “Mini-NRC” (National Register of Citizens) and interference in the functioning of madrasas under Article 30 of the Constitution.
There are a total of 16,461 madrassas in the state at present. 560 of the state’s total madrasas get government subsidies.