Assam govt to shut its madrasas, introduces Bill in Assembly

The Assam government introduced a Bill in the Assembly on December 28 to shut over 600 madrasas run by it. Assam Education and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma introduced the Assam Madrassas Education (Provincialisation) Act of 1995 on the opening day of the three-day Winter Session.

The bill proposes to abolish the two existing acts -- The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1995 and The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018.

Himanta Biswa Sarma took to his official Twitter handle to share the news. He wrote: "Once the Bill is passed (by the House), the practice of running madrasas by the government in Assam will come to an end, a practice which was started by the Muslim League government in pre-Independence Assam."

Earlier, Sarma had said that the state government had decided to make education 'secular' and 620 madrasas administered by the state government would be shut.

Taking to the media persons, Sarma said:

"All the 620 government-run madrasas will be converted into the general schools and 97 Sanskrit tols handed over to Kumar Bhaskarvarma Sanskrit University. These Sanskrit tols will be converted into centres of learning and research where Indian culture, civilisation, and nationalism will be studied. Irrespective of religion, Indian culture, civilisation, and nationalism will be taught in these converted educational institutions, making Assam the first Indian state to teach on these themes."

Sarma said that the state government had been spending Rs 260 crore annually for running the madrasas and "the government cannot spend public money for religious teaching". He, however, said that madrasas run by private organisations in Assam would not be shut.

Sarma claimed that most students enrolled in the madrasas want to become doctors and engineers and are not aware of the fact that these are not regular schools. The minister also claimed that most Islamic scholars are also not in favour of madrasas run by the government and added that these are a legacy of the Muslim League.

How Opposition Parties Reacted?

The Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) strongly opposed the Bill and said that they would restart the madrasa education after coming to the power in the Assembly polls due in April-May next year.