West Bengal government issues closure notice to 252 unaided and unrecognised madrasas
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West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and Minister for Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Kshudiram Tudu. File | Photo Credit: ANI
The West Bengalgovernment has issued closure notices to 252 unaided and unrecognised madrasas. Another hundred similar madrasas have received show-cause notices and may face closure if they fail to explain the irregularities and answer the queries.
“A survey was conducted through district administration across 22 districts and in Kolkata. Details of teachers, students, infrastructure and funds available was inspected by a special team on the basis of which 252 madrasahs have been closed in the first phase,” said Kshudiram Tudu, Minister for Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education.
Unrecognised and unaided madrasahs are commonly called Khariji Madrasahs; they are independent Islamic educational institutions that operate without government funding, formal recognition, or official regulatory control. Of the madrasas that have been given closure notice, 44 of these are located in Malda, 37 in Uttar Dinajpur, 32 in South 24 Parganas, and 25 each in Nadia and Murshidabad.
Soon after coming to power, the Suvendu Adhikari government had ordered a survey of the Khariji madrasas. There are over 2000 such madrasas in the State. There are hundreds of State-aided and recognised madrasas in the State which are administered by the West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education. The Madrasah Education system in Bengal has a history of almost 250 years, and it grew and flourished with the foundation of the Calcutta Madrasah in 1780 by the British East India Company .
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had earlier this month said that there will be a ‘One State, One Education' policy in West Bengal. Mr. Adhikari said that Aliah University, which was under the Madrasah Education Ministry, has been brought under the Higher Education Ministry.
Several leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, including the president of the State unit of the party, Samik Bhattacharya, welcomed the move by the West Bengal government. Mr. Bhattacharya said that former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had pointed out that extremist elements were promoted through madrasas but later had to retract under pressure from the Left Front.
The State BJP president also added that in a State there cannot be two forms of education.
“India is a secular country. In this country, there is no discrimination among people based on religion. Therefore, it is extremely essential to ensure equal opportunities, equal rights, and a uniform standard of the education system for every child in the country,” the BJP leader posted on social media.
Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh said that the BJP leaders' claim that extremists are found in madrasahs and are targeting an existing education system is not correct. The Mamata Banerjee loyalist MLA said that there is a tradition of giving education through ‘Sanskrit Tols’ as well.
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