Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday (October 13) said that that the state cannot fund religious schools referring to state-funded Madrasas where Quran is taught.
“In my opinion, teaching ‘Quran’ can’t happen at the cost of government money, if we have to do so then we should also teach both the Bible and Bhagavad Gita. So, we want to bring uniformity and stop this practice,” he was quoted by ANI.
In a sweeping announcement bound to cause tension, all the state-run madrassas will be converted into regular schools as the Assam government will be shutting madrassas down.
“All State-run madrassas will be converted into regular schools or in certain cases teachers will be transferred to state-run schools and madrassas will be shut down. A notification will be released in November,” said Sarma.
Immediately after the announcement, the chief of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal said that his party would re-open the Madrassas after coming to power in the next year’s Assembly elections.
Some legislators were demanding provincialisation of madrasas during the discussion on budgetary allocation for the education department.
Assam has 614 recognised madrasas, and 17 are Urdu medium.