In the last 48 hours, the state government has taken several decisions to control private madrasas in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. The decision was taken after two imams were arrested from two mosques in Goalpara district last Saturday and at least 25 people were arrested in the last four months.
Several Bangladeshi nationals are among the arrested persons. Police also believe that many of them are in contact with Bangladesh's banned militant organization Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). In such cases in India, the accused are acquitted in most cases after spending several years in jail.
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On Monday, Assam Chief Minister Hemant Biswa Sharma said that if a person from outside the state wants to become an imam of a mosque or madrasa teacher in Assam, the police will check their documents and past activities. After that they will be registered online. For this, the Assam government will open a portal, where the names and addresses of Imams or teachers from other states have to be registered.
Two imams named Abdus Subhan and Jalaluddin Sheikh were arrested from two mosques in Goalpara district last Saturday. According to the police, several objectionable objects were found with them. They were taken to court on Sunday. Within 24 hours, the Chief Minister said that police verification of imams and madrasah teachers is now mandatory. The Chief Minister also said that in 2016-17, some ABT militants entered Assam and started working among the local youth. He also alleged that they were giving weapons training in different mosques and madrasas. However, apart from the Assam Police, the administration, no third party responsible and independent Indian or international organization has yet commented on the veracity of these allegations.
Meanwhile, Director General of Assam Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mohant and Hiren Nath, who is in charge of the intelligence department, held a meeting with Maulana Abdul Qadir, secretary of Private Madrasa Board All Assam Tanjim Qaumi Madrasa yesterday. Mohant said that a list of private madrasas was handed over to them by Tanjim Qoumi in the meeting.
In this context, Jyoti Mohant wrote on social media, "We are trying to prepare a final list of all madrasas in Assam. It is a difficult task, because there are many madrasahs, which are not registered. Our objective is to control the anti-India Jihadi forces, so that they cannot use madrassas to carry out radical activities.”
In 2020, the government of Assam changed the Madrasa Education Act to convert state government-funded madrasas into ordinary schools. Himanta Biswa Sharma was the education minister of Assam at that time. Then he won the election in 2021 and became the Chief Minister. A year later, in February 2022, the Guwahati High Court recognized the validity of this law. A section of the Muslim community and the opposition opposed this law and judgment but to no avail.
As a result religious education was stopped at government madrasah level in Assam. A member of a madrasa management board in Assam told Prothom Alo on the condition of anonymity, "On the one hand, religious education was stopped in government madrasas, and on the other hand, the government started listing religious education in madrasas that were given with private donations." In my personal opinion, religious education will be stopped here in the future as well. Militancy has entered the madrasa, it is alleged.
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