Muzaffarnagar: The Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath has issued a notice to over a dozen unregistered madrasas, which are operating without proper registration, asking them to produce valid documents or pay a fine of Rs 10,000 per day.
The Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Department has issued a notice specifying that unregistered madrasas operating in Muzaffarnagar will be subject to a penalty. As per officials, Uttar Pradesh has approximately 24,000 madrasas, with 16,000 being officially recognized and 8,000 unrecognised.
Unregistered madrasas will be fined Rs 10,000 per day
The madrasas that have received notices in Muzaffarnagar have been instructed to provide the necessary documents within three days of receiving the order. Failure to comply may result in actions being taken against them in accordance with the established rules and regulations. "If the madrasas are found operating without recognition, they will be fined Rs 10,000 per day," the notice read.
Muzaffarnagar Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Shubham Shukla has stated that the district minority department has informed his office about the existence of over a hundred madrasas in the district that lack registration and recognition. These madrasas are operating in violation of established norms and guidelines. This revelation has prompted the issuance of notices to such madrasas, requiring them to provide the necessary documentation for registration and recognition within a specified timeframe.
What Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind says on notice
The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, an organization representing Indian Muslims, has strongly objected to the notice served to madrasas and has labelled the education department's order as "unlawful."
Maulana Zakir Husain, the secretary of the Uttar Pradesh unit of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, has expressed concerns that madrasas in the state are being unfairly targeted through the issuance of what they consider to be illegal notices. "The madrasas in the state are being harassed by serving them illegal notices only to target a particular community. The madrasas are providing free of cost education to the students, they will not be able to pay the fine of Rs 10,000 per day," Husain said.
4,000 madrasas under sacnner
In Lucknow, a senior official has revealed that approximately 4,000 madrasas in Uttar Pradesh are currently being scrutinized for receiving foreign funds.
The state government has established a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct an investigation into approximately 4,000 madrasas, many of which are located along the Indo-Nepal border. These institutions are suspected of receiving funds from foreign sources. The SIT will investigate whether the funds received by these madrasas were used for any illegal activities, including but not limited to terrorism or forced religious conversions.
(With PTI inputs)
