Muslim leaders criticise Uttarakhand's decision to withdraw grants for 456 madrasas

Muslim leaders on July 11 hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttarakhand, alleging that it does not want the community's children to gain religious education and progress in life.

The reactions poured after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami-led Uttarakhand government approved the proposal to abolish the standard budget for financial grants to all 456 Arabia madrasas, effective from the 2027-28 financial year.

Talking to IANS, President of All India Muslim Jamaat Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi alleged that the Uttarakhand government does not want the new generation of Muslims to receive religious education.

Referring to a previous state government directive of closing 150 unauthorised madrasas and abolition of the Uttarakhand Madarsa Education Board, Bareilvi said: "Now they are ending the grant as well."

"It wants that the Muslim children should lag behind in terms of education and are not able to progress," the Muslim cleric alleged.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Vice President Mohammed Saleem Engineer accused the Uttarakhand government of creating "an atmosphere of hatred" against the Muslims.

"Madrasas are being targeted. The country should function according to the Constitution, and the Constitution grants people of every religion the right to run their own institutions. In accordance with government regulations, madrasas are contributing to the field of education. They are helping make education accessible," he told IANS.

Saleem Engineer added that while madrasas teach the holy Quran and religious studies, "they are also sharing the government’s responsibility of educating people".

"Today, madrasas are not institutions that teach only Arabic and the Quran; all subjects are taught there. Hindi, English, and various other subjects are also part of the curriculum," he asserted.

He claimed that with such a move, the state is setting a "wrong example".

Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman Barq said that wherever the BJP is in power, it is "attempting to make a particular community happy by being unfair with others".

"This is not a major decision; it is a poor one. I would say that it amounts to interference with the constitutional rights guaranteed to people. In fact, such decisions should themselves be examined. People of all religions are entitled to equal constitutional rights, and it is not appropriate to interfere with those rights in this manner," he said.

Meanwhile, President of All India Imam Association Maulana Sajid Rashidi urged the Union government to shut those madrasas which are functioning on its grants.

"For those madrasas which are functioning on Zakar, the government can't even touch them since they don't take grants or teachers from the government. Those madrasas are only required to be registered which they do," he said.

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