Assam Govt Wants To Reduce Madrassas In State, Put General Education In Them: CM Himanta Sarma

Sarma said that the government wants to reduce the number of Madrassas in the state. He said that the government wants to put general education in Madrasas and start a system of registration.

New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that the government wants to reduce the number of Madrassas in the state and start registration of the system, as reported by the news agency ANI. Addressing a press conference, the Assam CM said, "We want to reduce the number of Madrasas in the state in the first phase," ANI quoted. "We want to put general education in Madrasas and start a system of registration in Madrasas," he added. He also said that they are working with the minority community and they are also helping in it.

"We are working with the community on this and they are also helping the Assam government," he said. Assam's Director General of Police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahant on Tuesday said that discussions were underway for bringing reforms to madrasas in the state. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Monday, the Assam DGP said, "Madrasas are running properly in Assam. Today, we interacted with 68 people running madrasas," ANI quoted. He said they discussed merging small madrasas with the bigger ones.

"Discussions were also held on how to bring about further reforms to madrasas, set rules, and form boards. We also talked about merging small madrasas with bigger ones," he said. He added Surveys were being conducted in this direction. "About 100 small madrasas have merged with the big ones. Surveys are also being done in this direction," he added.

Last year in November, the general secretary of the Assam-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and MLA from Sonai, Karim Uddin Barbhuiya talking to ANI said that the surveys of the private madrasas in the state will be completed within 6 months. Several private madrasas in the state came under scanner after teachers employed in some Madrasas were arrested by the Assam police this year for their alleged links with AQIS and ABT.

The inception of this fiasco happened back in 2020. On December 14, 2020, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that to facilitate a secular education system in Assam, the state government has decided to make 'education secular' and 198 high madrasas and 542 other madrasas in the state will operate as any other general educational institute and will not give admission to students for theological studies.