Assam government tables bill to abolish all state-run madrassas

[Black_cats]

Assam government tables bill to abolish all state-run madrassas

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.

Updated: Dec 28, 2020, 23:34 IST
By Press Trust of India | Posted by Ayshee Bhaduri, Guwahati

Despite a united opposition raising objections against it, education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tabled The Assam Repealing Bill, 2020, on the first day of the three-day winter session of the assembly (PTI)

The Assam government on Monday tabled a Bill in the Legislative Assembly to abolish all state-run Madrassas by converting them into general schools from April 1 next year.


Despite an united opposition raising objections on tabling of the Bill, Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma introducted The Assam Repealing Bill, 2020 on the first day of the three-day winter session.

The legislation 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.

“This bill is not to control and repeal the private Madrassas,” Sarma said, adding inclusion of the word “private” in the ‘statement of objects and reasons’ of the bill was a mistake.


The Assam cabinet had on December 13 approved a proposal to close down all Madrassas and Sanskrit Tols (schools) however, the legislation brought in the assembly during the day did not contain anything related to the Sanskrit tols and the education minister also did not mention anything about it.

The minister said in the bill that all Madrassa institutes will be converted into upper primary, high and higher secondary schools with no change of status, pay, allowances and service conditions of the teaching and non-teaching staff.

There are 610 state-run Madrassas across Assam with the government spending Rs 260 crore annually, Sarma had said earlier.


In April 2018, the Education minister had brought many private Madrassas under the government ambit by introducing The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018.

The BJP-led alliance-controlled Assam assembly had enacted the law unanimously in 2018.

Regarding Sanskrit tols, Sarma had said in October last that they would be handed over to Kumar Bhaskar Varma Sanskrit and Ancient Studies University and its infrastructure would be converted into centres of learning and research, where Indian culture, civilisation and nationalism would be studied.


As soon as Sarma sought permission to introduce The Assam Repealing Bill Monday, Congress and AIUDF members objected to tabling of the proposed law and questioned the intention of the government.

Congress MLA Nurul Huda said Madrassas teach Arabic language apart from other general subjects and learning a language cannot be termed communal.

Because of learning Arabic, many youths have got lucrative jobs in Arab countries and they are contributing to Indian economy by sending foreign exchanges,” he added.

His party colleague Sherman Ali Ahmed said learning of Arabic will open job opportunities in 52 countries and already many Hindus from other states like Kerala are earning lakhs of rupees by working in such places.

Another Congress member Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested modernisation of Madrassas and not abolishing them.

“I don’t know why this bill is brought. It will change the atmosphere of Assam. This bill is aimed at polarisation of votes on religious lines,” he alleged.

AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam said Sarma himself had provincialised these Madrassas in 2018 and now “he is killing his own baby”.

“Even Modi ji has said there should be computer in one hand and Quran on the other. Yogi (Adityanath) is doing the same in UP and allotted hundreds of crores for Madrassas,” he added.

Senior AIUDF member Hafiz Bashir Ahmed said winding up all government Madrassas is a big decision and it should be sent to the select committee of the house for discussion with all the stakeholders.

Countering all objections, the Education minister said he also believes in spiritual education like learning of Quran, Gita and Bible, but the proposed bill is not related to stopping such education.

“Madrassas teach theology as a subject. If only Arabic is taught, no issue would have been there. But, as a government we cannot allow teaching of the Quran on public funding.

“Then tomorrow, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jains and other people will also come seeking support to teach their religious books,” he said.

Sarma tried to alleviate fears of stopping Arabic language and said teaching of the particular language will continue once the Madrasssas will be converted into general schools.

“Many Islamic scholars have opposed government support to teach the Quran. It was a wrong practice and we want to end this wrong practice,” he added.

When Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami allowed to introduce the bill and Sarma tabled it, the opposition created a noisy scene and raised objection by shouting slogans inside the house.

However, with the Speaker asking them to raise their points during discussion on the bill Wednesday, the Congress and AIUDF members settled down.

Assam government tables bill to abolish all state-run madrassas

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.

www.google.com

 

[padamchen]

Assam needs to e supported by the bigger Indian states.

They seem to be fighting this alone.

I don't see any urgency.

As if the tide will remain stemmed in by the state lines.

Cheers, Doc

 

[HostileInsurgent]

Before Pakistani members start abusing, here are some quick facts.

1. The bill is for state run Madrassas only, Private madrassas will be unaffected.

2. It is done because there are only Madrassas in Assam run by the government while other religious schools are not supported hence they had only 2 options, either fund all religious schools or abolish all state run religious schools.

3. These madrassas will be converted into Schools where the same students will be enrolled.

4.This bill is passed constitutionally.

PS Read the full article carefully posted by Black Cats.

 

[EasyNow]

Before Pakistani members start abusing, here are some quick facts.

1. The bill is for state run Madrassas only, Private madrassas will be unaffected.

2. It is done because there are only Madrassas in Assam run by the government while other religious schools are not supported hence they had only 2 options, either fund all religious schools or abolish all state run religious schools.

3. These madrassas will be converted into Schools where the same students will be enrolled.

4.This bill is passed constitutionally.

PS Read the full article carefully posted by Black Cats.

Isn't the article describing a situation where Madrassas existed as private organisations, which were then adopted by the state?

Now the state is looking to convert those same Madrassas into schools? Am i missing something?

 

[Black_cats]

Isn't the article describing a situation where Madrassas existed as private organisations, which were then adopted by the state?

Now the state is looking to convert those same Madrassas into schools? Am i missing something?

You are absolutely right and it was done in 2018 by BJP seems to be pre planned and they didn’t touch any Sanskrit Tols (schools).

 

[HostileInsurgent]

Isn't the article describing a situation where Madrassas existed as private organisations, which were then adopted by the state?

Now the state is looking to convert those same Madrassas into schools? Am i missing something?

Revision of old actions.

 

[EasyNow]

Revision of old actions.

I'm sorry, the world is not stupid. You can explain injustice of this kind to fellow BJP, not everyone else.

Govt control of Madrassas is something I support in every country - but India's actions will make Madrassas suspicious of state intervention all over the world now.

 

[xeuss]

Isn't the article describing a situation where Madrassas existed as private organisations, which were then adopted by the state?

Now the state is looking to convert those same Madrassas into schools? Am i missing something?

Under the previous government, there was a desire to improve the quality of education in madrassas. Previously, these madrassas only imparted religious education. The state government offered an initiative that those madrassas who came under the state purview would be provided financial assistance if they provided non-religious education as well.

This move was greatly welcomed by the most madrassas and Muslim organizations, who saw an opportunity to improve the quality of their educational offerings. The state financial assistance was mostly to pay for the salary of the teachers that would be hired.

This new measure is nothing more than an effort to deprive Muslims of their educational institutes.

However, I trust the resilience of the Muslims to overcome this adversity as well.

 

[Cherub786]

Govt control of Madrassas is something I support in every country

Why? That's pretty stupid if you ask me

 

[EasyNow]

Why? That's pretty stupid if you ask me

Because religious institutions of all types should be regulated so that they follow an agreed curriculum and don't mislead followers. Is that too much to ask?

 

[Cherub786]

Because religious institutions of all types should be regulated so that they follow an agreed curriculum and don't mislead followers. Is that too much to ask?

And who will decide what is considered "misleading"? The government? Give me a break.

We're too cynical to trust religion will be in good hands with the government

 

[EasyNow]

And who will decide what is considered "misleading"? The government? Give me a break.

We're too cynical to trust religion will be in good hands with the government

If you can't trust your govt, why should you trust the people running your maddrasah? They are the from the same people.

In fact the people who would set the curriculum would be other imams. The mainstream view will be implemented

 

[Cherub786]

If you can't trust your govt, why should you trust the people running your maddrasah? They are the from the same people.

In fact the people who would set the curriculum would be other imams. The mainstream view will be implemented

The people running Madaris and the people running the government are definitely not the same people. For example, the people running your government in Bangladesh is the bloody butcher Hasina Sheikh and the evil Awami League, while the people running the Qawmi Madaris are Islamic scholars who are generally pious and learned men.

 

[fallstuff]

Their country , their rule.

 

[EasyNow]

The people running Madaris and the people running the government are definitely not the same people. For example, the people running your government in Bangladesh is the bloody butcher Hasina Sheikh and the evil Awami League, while the people running the Qawmi Madaris are Islamic scholars who are generally pious and learned men.

Pious and learned men? Now I know you're talking rubbish