New Delhi: The Uttarakhand government has sealed over 50 ‘illegal’ madrasas in the state in a span of two weeks. The crackdown on religious educational institutions is happening on the orders of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who has said that the action would continue in the days to come. A number of Muslim organisations have criticised the move, terming it “unconstitutional” and “illegal”.
This comes months after CM Dhami spoke at length about religious conversion, encroachment, “land jihad”, and “thook (spit) jihad”, stressing that such activities will not be allowed in the “devbhoomi” (holy land) of Uttarakhand.
The Opposition claimed that any action against anything ‘illegal’ was a welcome step but certain groups were being targeted through such exercises.
“They (authorities) have been going to town saying that 52 madrasas have been sealed. First of all, are only madrasas illegal in the state? Are all the hotels, restaurants, schools, hostels, and big institutes all running legally? Why are they not taking action against them?” Garima Dasauni, the spokesperson of Uttarakhand Congress, told ThePrint. “The government should be viewing everyone and everything similarly.”
She added that the “CM should know that working on an agenda will not be tolerated”. “At a time when there are such raging issues of women’s safety, drug abuse, and unemployment, all that this government can focus on is illegal madrasas. What about the innocent students whose future is now uncertain? What is the government going to do about them?”
“Even if these madrasas were running illegally for so long, what was the madrasa board chairman of yours doing so far? Why did the chairman allow such illegal institutes to function? Why is no action being taken against him? The real culprit then is the chairman,” she added.
A number of organisations working for the welfare of the Muslim community have termed the move unconstitutional. A protest was also organised jointly by a number of such organisations under the aegis of Muslim Seva Sangathan.
“This is illegal and a completely unconstitutional drive because our constitution empowers minorities to practice, profess and propagate religion and set up their own institutions,” Said Naeem Qureshi, Muslim Seva Sangathan president.
“Whatever sealing process has been done so far has been done without giving any prior notice and officials have taken action without even carrying out basic due diligence. No process has been followed. The sealing is completely illegal. Authorities entered many madrasa premises with brute force and took action.”
A number of experts also claimed that the government was deliberately using communal politics to take the focus away from other crucial issues and consolidate its position among Hindu voters.
Jai Singh Rawat, author and political analyst from Uttarakhand, said, “If you follow closely, you can see during his second stint, the Dhami government has tried to keep the focus away from development-oriented politics and has been busy talking about religious conversion, UCC, Hindu-Muslim politics.”
“The reasons for this are quite simple as in a Hindu majority state the government wants to show it is safeguarding the rights of the Hindus and uses it as a political tool,” he said.
“The focus on such Hindu-Muslim politics allows it to deflect attention from other crucial issues such as the land law, which they have finally tabled or the strengthening of anti-corruption measures. There are no job opportunities for the youth, and the government has not made much effort for that either,” he added.
Another Uttarakhand-based expert, who asked not to be named, said that Dhami’s second tenure has been more focused on issues related to Hindutva, and even his predecessors, including Trivendra Singh Rawat, had not focused chiefly on such issues.
“Even under the previous BJP government, such incidents used to take place, but they have gained greater urgency during Dhami’s tenure. All we hear about is love jihad, land jihad, thook jihad,” the analyst added. “Many within the BJP feel that a demographic shift is taking place, with people entering Uttarakhand from the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, and such incidents will help check that.”
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior government official defended the administration’s action.
“We have been receiving a number of complaints on the mushrooming of illegal madrasas in several parts of Dehradun. The government acted on the complaints and took action. We can’t allow illegal institutes to operate in such a manner,” the official said.
Another official said that the government took action because many of these institutes had illegal construction and were flouting many norms.
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‘Work on to start modern madrasas’
According to government sources, on the directions of the CM, 12 ‘illegal’ madrasas were sealed in Vikasnagar, Dehradun, and nine in Khatima of Udham Singh Nagar district. Similarly, action was taken against 31 madrasas in various districts of the state.
Muslim Seva Sangathan president Said Naeem Qureshi, however, claimed that action has been taken on at least 45 madrasas in Dehradun and the adjoining districts. “The action of the administration will affect the education of at least around 2,000 students who were studying in these madrasas.”
“There is no plan to facilitate their education,” he alleged.
Dhami told reporters Wednesday, “In ‘devbhoomi’ Uttarakhand, it is our pledge that we will not allow any illegal madrasa and illegal construction. A drive was conducted in which it was found that some of the madrasa have been operating illegally and, based on that action, has been taken against them and this will continue in the coming few days.”
According to a senior BJP leader, many within the party have raised the issue of ‘illegal’ madrasas coming up with demographic changes in the state. Several leaders had taken the issue to the CM.
Speaking to ThePrint, Shadab Shams, the chairman of the Uttarakhand Waqf Board, reported 419 recognised madrasas in the state—of which 117 fall under Waqf.
“The action initiated by the administration is only against illegal madrasas that have been operating in the state. While there are 419 recognised madrasas, there are roughly 400 illegal ones who have been playing with the future of students,” he said.
Shams said the Dhami government is concerned about the future of the students who were studying in such madrasas and work was on to start “modern madrasas” in the state to impart better education to the students.
‘Undue interference’
The Muslim Sewa Sangathan, on 6 March, filed a complaint regarding the sealing action with the district magistrate of Dehradun, calling it out “undue interference in the operations of Maktab/Madrasa, and harassing them continuously, which are the only source of imparting religious education to children of the Muslim community”.
In the letter, the organisation alleged that the madrasas were sealed without serving them any notice.
The organisation further said that the several huge Islamic seminaries, such as Darul Uloom Deoband in Saharanpur and Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow, are also not recognised by any board of madrasa education. “So, we have the right to parity and equality to administer our institutions… Because obtaining the recognition of the board is purely optional and not mandatory in nature,” it said, calling on the administration to de-seal the institutes.
In 2023, the Uttarakhand government intensified its crackdown on illegal religious structures and encroachments on forest land in the state and took action against 465 mazars (mausoleums) and 45 temples, among others. During that period too, the Opposition Congress criticised the drive as a bid to worsen communal polarisation.
Qureshi, too, said the government earlier targeted mazars and was now taking action against madrasas.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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You are right! Halal is also something of a made up issue.
Muslims treat other faiths with contempt. Now they are on the receiving end; not just in India, but globally. Land grabbing in the name of religious identity by Muslims have been going on in the areas ruled by Muslims for more than hundred years. In the recent past after the independence it happened as encroachments in Muslim-majority areas in India. If you say jihad is something of a made up issue, what about halal? Wake halal, brush halal, teeth halal, bath halal, talk halal. I even saw a youtube video that advocated halal sex for Muslims!
Rotten politics. Why dont these bigots label everything a Muslim does as jihad? For eaxmple, wake jihad, brushing teeth jihad, bath jihad, talk jihad?
The Musilm community does have serious challenges but one fails to see how such actions will resolve them. How will they bring the community to progress. How will the talent in the Muslim community be tapped for the betterment of the community and the country?
All this is happening in what is called Devbhoomi by these perpetrators. Would the almight really treat people of other faiths with so much contempt?