The Assam government has approved a proposal to repeal provisions for madrasas – a move that will shut down around 600 madrasas in the Indian state.
The approval was announced through a notification released by the Cabinet on Sunday.
“Repeal of provisions of Madrasa and Sanskrit Tolls Act will be introduced in the coming session,” the note said, reports The Indian Express.
The move follows a remark from Assam’s Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in October that stated that the government intended to shut down around 600 madrasas in Assam, and use the facilities for general education purposes instead.
“So, we have decided to convert these institutes into seats for general education. Now, 600 madrasas will be closed down. In these madrasas, we are going to impart modern education. This is not to save any finance. We will keep spending Rs300 crore because we are not going to take anybody out of service. The madrasa education is opposed by the students themselves,” the education minister had said.
He said the move seeks to establish religious educational parity in the region, where students currently only have the opportunity to study the Quran, but not the Bhagavad Gita or the Bible.
“I think introducing the Bible or the Bhagavad Gita would not be easy because Assam has a composite culture and there are many small religions. So, the best way to establish parity is to remove the subject on the Quran,” he added.
