Saharanpur (UPDATE):
On Sunday, the prominent Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband said it had no objection to the Uttar Pradesh government’s survey of private madrassas but that the whole system of institutions should not be smeared if some do not follow the rules.
At a conference of representatives from different madrassas held in Deoband to discuss the survey issue, the seminary’s rector Maulana Arshad Madani affirmed that the madrassas operate according to the Constitution of the country.
During the conference, a 12-member steering committee was established and its objectives included assisting madrassa governing bodies in the surveying process and addressing their grievances, if any, before the government.
Madani, who is also the chairman of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and Vice-Chairman of the All India Islamic Personal Law Board, previously criticized the government survey of Muslim religious schools.
Speaking to reporters after the conference, Madani said he has called on all madrassa managers to cooperate in the survey because they have nothing to hide.
He asked the management to provide accurate information to the officials and also prepare documents such as land papers and audit reports, besides ensuring the cleanliness of their premises.
He said that if a madrassa is illegally built on government land and the court declares it illegal, Muslims should remove it themselves as Shariyat does not allow this.
At the same time, he urged the government not to disregard the whole madrassa system if one or two organizations failed to comply with the rules.
Madni also said that the sacrifices made by the madrassas in the freedom movement cannot be forgotten.
Strict security arrangements were made for the conference and the media were kept away.
On August 31, the government of Uttar Pradesh ordered an investigation of all unrecognized private madrassas operating in the state and the teams formed accordingly.
In order, the groups were asked to complete the survey by October 15 and submit a report to the government 10 days later.
Currently, about 16,000 private madrassas are active in the state, including the world famous Nadwatul Ulama and Darul Uloom Deoband.
Following the government’s decision, some madrassa operators expressed concern about the survey.
Earlier, Madani questioned why only one survey of madrassas was done.
“If survey of madrassas is necessary, then why not in other educational institutions? Religious education is done in madrassas and this right has been given to us by the Constitution of the country.
“‘There is no place for terrorism here. The existence of madrassas is for the development of the country. The doors of madrassas are always open to everyone,’ he tweeted on Tuesday.
At the meeting of Jamiat-Ulama-e-Hind, a prominent organization of Muslim scholars and clerics, in Delhi on September 6, they decided to support the government in the survey but demanded do not interfere in their internal affairs.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
