IUML leaders protest closure of state-run madrasas in Assam

Indian Union Muslim League leaders are of the stance that they will raise the issue in the Parliament and they view it as a violation of minority community's right to education.

New Delhi: Following the row in Assam after Education Minister's nod for the closure of state-run madrasas in the state, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Tuesday said that they will raise the issue in the Parliament.

Zubeir, general secretary of Indian Union Muslim Youth League told ETV Bharat that they will raise the issue in the Parliament and they condemn the state government's decision to shut down state-run madrasas in Assam. He also added that the madrasas provide high-quality education. He said that IUML will also appeal to all parties to support them in their fight against the decision taken by the Assam government. Further, he also pointed out that there IUML has three representatives in Lok Sabha and one in Rajya Sabha.

It should also be noted that there are 614 state-run madrasas and 900 privately run madrasas, mostly by the Jamiat Ulama -e-Hind in Assam. Zubeir stated that the educational needs of the backward communities in the state are met by the madrasas. He added that the closure of madrasas would demand setting up of more schools for backward communities. The minority community will be further sidelined due to lack of access to education.

Read: Assam to convert govt-run madrasas, Sankrit tols to schools

The Assam government has recently issued an order to shift 148 numbers of madrasa contractual teachers to schools under general secondary education with an aim to close down the madrasas.

Talking to ETV Bharat, Jalal Uddin, president of Muslim Students Union of Assam slammed the state government by stating that the government's measure violates the right to education of the minority community. He further added that the state government intend to term the Muslim population residing in Assam as Rohingyas and it has reflected in their decision.

Earlier, this month Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma said that all state-run madrasas would be converted into regular schools or in certain cases teachers would be transferred to state-run schools and madrasas would be shut down. The decision taken by the state government has created a row in Assam. According to Sharma, the Quran cannot be permitted to be taught with the government's money. The madrasa education system in Assam started in 1780.