Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Demands Withdrawal of UP Government's Order on Madrasa Students

The Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind has called for the withdrawal of a UP Government directive to shift students from unrecognized madrasas and non-Muslim students in government-aided madrasas to government schools. They deem the order unconstitutional and a violation of minority rights, urging that such decisions should be reconsidered.

The Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind has firmly demanded the withdrawal of the Uttar Pradesh government's recent order directing that all students in unrecognized madrasas and non-Muslim students studying in government-aided madrasas be shifted to government schools.

The prominent Muslim organization has labeled the directive as 'unconstitutional,' emphasizing that it violates the rights of minority communities.

The order, dated June 26, was issued by the then Uttar Pradesh chief secretary, Durga Shankar Mishra, and was based on a communication from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). The directive stipulated that non-Muslim students in government-funded madrasas should be transferred to government schools to receive formal education. Moreover, children studying in unrecognized madrasas were also to be admitted to council schools.

The Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind's president, Maulana Mahmood Asad Madni, highlighted in a statement that the NCPCR cannot mandate the separation of students on the basis of religion, warning that such actions could divide the nation. The organization insists that madrasas have a unique legal identity as per the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, and demands the immediate withdrawal of the order.

The directive affects thousands of madrasas in Uttar Pradesh, including notable institutions like Darul Uloom Deoband. The Supreme Court had previously stayed a related Allahabad High Court order, citing potential impacts on the education of over 17 lakh students in these madrasas.

Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Council president Iftikhar Ahmed Javed echoed this sentiment, stating that no student is compelled to enroll in madrasas and that the directive is incomprehensible.

(With inputs from agencies.)