U.P. Government reiterates madrasa survey aims for the betterment of the Islamic institutions

The aim of the madrasa survey was to collect data so that better education and other required facilities could be provided, says Minister

As the deadline for the U.P. Government’s madrasa survey draws closer, the junior Minority Welfare Minister in the State government, Danish Azad Ansari reiterated the necessity for the survey. “All the hue and cry regarding the madrasa survey is far from reality and the Uttar Pradesh Government wants to provide better facilities to students studying in these Islamic institutions,” Mr. Ansari said. “The aim of the madrasa survey was to collect data so that better education and other required facilities could be provided to these Islamic institutions. Hence this survey was necessary. We are not going to take actions.”

The districts are receiving data from the concerned departments and the report is likely to be submitted to the State government by November 15. “The government will receive all the reports from the districts and take positive steps. Our intention is for betterment of those studying [in madrasas],” Mr. Ansari added.

The madrasa survey, which is almost complete, started on September 10, with teams of officials gathering information on 12 points, including infrastructure, staff, source of funding, and facilities available at the Islamic institutions in all the 75-districts of the State. As of now, in the survey, over 8,000 madrasas were found to be running without recognition.

As the survey in Uttar Pradesh, the State with the Muslim population, nears completion, criticism of it appears to be growing louder. Maulana Mufti Abul Kasim Nomani, Mohtamim (Vice Chancellor) of the Darul Uloom of Deoband, in a conference held last week at Darul Uloom attended by hundreds of Muslim clerics and managers of madrasas to discuss the survey, said, “We have to maintain the old `nizam of education’.” He added that madrasas did not need modern education or any kind of government recognition.

Since the announcement of the survey, the ruling BJP has been criticised by Opposition parties and Muslim groups, who have alleged that the Yogi government was trying to terrorise the Muslim community and the survey was a “malicious” move to disparage the madrasa system.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president and four-time U.P. Chief Minister Mayawati said, “The BJP government has an evil intent on madrasas in Uttar Pradesh. The attempts to interfere in the private madrasas, which are run on donations by the Muslim community, in the name of a survey, is inappropriate. The government should focus on improving the condition of government [madrasas] and government-aided madrasas.”

Muslim organisations like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind have asked why the same rules do not apply to Hindu religious institutions such as mutts and dharmshalas.