Madrasas banned in India
A court in India has banned madrasas (seminaries) in Uttar Pradesh ahead of national elections. The court had thrown the law, which had governed madrasas in UP since 2004, and ordered that students be shifted to conventional schools. The ruling cited constitutional secularism violations.
The Allahabad High Court order will affect 2.7 million students and 10,000 teachers in 25,000 madrasas across the UP state, Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, the state’s head of the board of madrasa education said. The division bench comprising Judges Subhash Vidyarthi and Vivek Chaudhary ruled that the state government shall also ensure that children between the ages of 6 to 14 years are not left without admission in duly recognized institutions.
Earlier, a petition was filed against seminaries by lawyer Anshuman Singh Rathore. The controversial move has come ahead of India’s general election scheduled for April and June. Bharatiya Janata Party led by Modi is expected to win the elections. Some BJP members and affiliates are facing charges of promoting anti-Islamic hate speech and vigilantism and demolishing Muslim-owned properties. On the other hand, the BJP claimed the government is rectifying historical wrongs.
