Special discussion : Are madarasas becoming the epicentres of terrorism ?

         “Those who brutally killed Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan and Umesh Kolhe in Amaravati were trained in madarasas. If a Central agency surveys to examine the background of all prisoners in India, it will certainly reveal that – most of the Muslim prisoners are ex-madarasa students; therefore, there will be no doubt that the terrorists get trained in madarasas. Moreover, the Supreme Court has clearly stated that madarasas are not schools that provide primary or secondary education, but rather centres that impart religious education and cover Islamic traditions as curriculum. Therefore, the Centre and State Governments should immediately stop the financial support given to madarasas as they do not provide formal education per the SC judgement. They should also prohibit Muslim clerics from opening new madarasas and enrolling students. The Centre should also implement a common education policy across the country and ensure that respective institutions abide by it. It will help reduce religious fanaticism in the Country”, said Rajasthan High Court Advocate and scholar Moti Singh Rajpurohit. He was speaking at an online special discussion on – ‘Are madarasas becoming the epicentres of terrorism ?’, organized by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.

      On the occasion, noted journalist from Delhi and social activist Deepak Sharma said, “Religious fanatics held a journalist from a national TV channel captive and beat him up as he surveyed madarasas in Seelampur (a Muslim-majority area), Delhi. He was lucky that the religious fanatics did not kill him like they killed Kanhaiya Lal. Seelampur witnessed a deadly riot in 2020. Police arrested Tahir Hussain, AAP councillor, as the key conspirator in this case. During the investigation, Police realised that Hussain shared a close association with 30 madarasas in that area. Madarasas deliberately radicalise the Muslim students and cut them off from the outside world.”

     At the time, Mr Abhay Vartak, Dharmapracharak, Sanatan Sanstha, said, “The report prepared by the 9/11 fact finding committee highlighted the role of madarasas in the deadly attacks on the US. The State Government of Assam demolished some madarasas after their links with ‘Al-Qaeda’, a deadly terrorist outfit, came to light. Soon after that incident, the CM proactively converted all madarasas across the State into formal educational institutions. The patriotic citizens of the Country expect all State Governments to follow suit. A recent news report revealed that Muslim clerics run more than 40,000 unauthorised madarasas in Uttar Pradesh. If this is the case, one can imagine the number of such madarasas across the Country. The Uttar Pradesh Government unearthed Rs 100 crore scam after it digitized all madarasas across the State. Hence, the Centre should conduct a detailed survey of all madarasas across the Country.

Ramesh Shinde, National Spokesperson, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.