The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Religious and National Muslim Organizations, and Leaders of Madarsas in a joint statement have condemned the efforts to undermine Madrasas in various states, saying the crackdown on their institutions will not be tolerated.
"We, the citizens of the nation, strongly condemn the efforts to undermine the status and identity of Madarsas in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and other states through various pretexts. We categorically state that the directives issued by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to state governments concerning minority educational institutions i.e. Madarsas is illegal and beyond the commission's jurisdiction," they said.
Following these directives, the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh has instructed district authorities to survey Madarsas and transfer students from "unrecognised schools" (independent Madarsa) to government schools. A list of 8,449 "unrecognized schools" - independent Madarsas have been published, including renowned and historical institutions such as Darul Uloom Deoband, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema, Lucknow, Mazahir Uloom Saharanpur, Jamia Salafia Varanasi, Jamia Ashrafia Mubarakpur, Madrasatul Islah Saraimeer, and Jamia Al-Falah Baleriaganj, besides others, they said.
District magistrates are exerting pressure to transfer students from these institutions to government schools. This circular from the Chief Secretary and the pressure from district authorities are blatantly illegal. Additionally, the district administration has removed non-Muslim students from these schools and transferred them to government schools, which is an attack on their personal right to choose, and upon our joint Indian culture and civilization, the joint statement said.
Now, Muslim students are also being pressured to obtain basic education under the Right to Education Act. Administrators of these Madarsas are being threatened with action in case of non-compliance, they mentioned.
In Madhya Pradesh, the government has taken a step further by compelling students in Madarsas to perform Saraswati Vandana daily. We, the responsible members of Muslim religious and national organizations, and heads of religious schools and universities, deem it necessary to clarify that under Article 30(1) of the Constitution, minorities have the fundamental right to establish and administer their educational institutions, the joint statement said.
Additionally, the Right to Education Act explicitly exempts religious schools. These institutions provide free, high-quality education to millions of children along with food and accommodation and have been making silent but successful efforts to promote education among the educationally backward Muslim community for years. These institutions and their graduates have played a significant role in the country's independence and continue to contribute to its development post-independence, it further said.
The sudden and unilateral actions by the Chief Secretary are an unwarranted attempt to disrupt this longstanding and stable system, causing educational damage to millions of children and imposing undue mental and psychological pressure on them.
We demand that the administration of these states cease these illegal, unethical, and oppressive actions and to not jeopardise the future of children. We stand resolute to take all possible legal and democratic actions to change these minority-hostile policies of the state governments, Muslim organisations said.
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