UTTAR PRADESH: An Indian court has banned Islamic schools, known as madrassas, in the country’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), a move that could further alienate Muslims from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, particularly in the lead-up to general elections.
The ruling, issued on Friday by the Allahabad High Court, overturned a 2004 law governing madrassas in UP, citing violations of India’s constitutional secularism. It mandates the transfer of students from madrassas to traditional schools.
According to Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, head of the board of madrassa education in UP, the court’s order affects approximately 2.7 million students and 10,000 teachers across 25,000 madrassas in the state, where Muslims make up one-fifth of the population of 240 million people.
Judges Subhash Vidyarthi and Vivek Chaudhary ordered the state government to ensure that children aged 6 to 14 years are not left without admission in recognized educational institutions.
The ruling came in response to an appeal by lawyer Anshuman Singh Rathore, and it has sparked debates about religious discrimination and educational policies in India.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has faced accusations of promoting anti-Islamic sentiments and demolishing Muslim-owned properties, madrassas and mosques.
The BJP justified these actions by saying that the government is correcting historical injustices, such as the recent inauguration of a Hindu temple on the site of a 16th-century mosque razed in 1992.
Rakesh Tripathi, a BJP spokesperson in Uttar Pradesh, expressed concerns about the education of Muslim students and said that further actions will be decided based on the court’s order.
The court’s decision has drawn mixed reactions, with some arguing for the separation of religious education from mainstream schooling.
The ruling has also reignited discussions about the BJP’s policies regarding minority communities and educational reforms in India.
