Closing Down Assam Madrasas: Towards What End?
By Arshad Alam, New
Age Islam
29
September 2020
The recent
announcement by Assam government that it is planning to close down madrasas in
the state has led to considerable anxiety amongst Muslims. The unease with
madrasas has to be seen in the broader context of how the political rhetoric on
this institution has evolved over the years. There was a time when madrasas
were hailed as nationalist institutions par excellence. Such an idea had some
merit as the Deoband Ulama had whole heartedly supported the national movement.
However, over the years, and especially since 9/11, the linkage of the
institution with terrorism brought it global disrepute.
In India,
madrasas became singed with this association much before and were consequently
targeted by various governments, specifically with reference to alleged
promotion of Islamic radicalism in their teachings. Within India, such
insinuation with regard to madrasas has a long tradition, which started much
before the western preoccupation with this institution. The parties of the
Hindu right have long blamed madrasas for teaching hatred towards the majority
(Hindu) community and engaging in what they claimed were anti-national
activities.
In 1995,
the VHP declared that it would not tolerate the ‘nefarious designs’ of madrasas
as they were teaching ‘anti-Hindu’ ideas to their students. They argued that
madrasas were ‘dens of terror’ and that they intended to train Jihadis to
massacre Hindus and turn India into an Islamic nation. During the first NDA
government (1999-2004), a ministerial committee report of 2001 stated that
madrasas were engaged in systematic indoctrination of Muslims in fundamentalist
ideology which was detrimental to communal harmony.
However,
such ideas on madrasa education were not the monopoly of the Hindu Right alone,
but were voiced on different occasions even by the Left led government in West
Bengal. The current unease within Assam about madrasas and their teachings must
be seen within this context.
To be sure,
the state government has just made its intent clear; so far we do not have any
notification to this effect. However, observers believe that the government is
serious and that a notification to this effect will be out soon. The official
reason which is being given for such a drastic step is that the government
cannot allow religious teaching to continue as these are government funded
madrasas. The state government is right in the sense that madrasas do teach
Islam to their students. However, in the Indian case, the relationship between
state and religion has never been so clear cut. Various governments, for
example, have intervened into religious matters from time to time in the name
of maintaining public health and social order. State governments in India are
known to maintain a number of temples and organise religious congregations like
the Kumbh. So, if the Assam government is trying to say that the state should
not have anything to do with religion, then this argument does not hold much
water. The real reason for taking such a decision has to be the abiding
suspicion of these institutions.
Although
suspicious, various governments have wanted madrasas to modernise their
syllabus, to include modern subjects so as their students become relevant in
the contemporary economic structure. The problem is that most madrasas have
refused to modernise their syllabus under the pretext of cultural and religious
autonomy. It is pertinent here to note that there are two kinds of madrasas:
one controlled, financed and regulated by the government and the other which
are controlled and regulated by the community. While the syllabus in state
controlled madrasas is roughly at par with government schools, the real problem
lies with the community controlled madrasas. These institutions are resistant
to change; upholding an archaic notion of Islamic education which still teaches
hundreds of years old syllabus to students.
In the
context of Assam, the decision to close down madrasas will naturally only apply
to government regulated ones. The community madrasas will not be affected due
to this measure. Paradoxically, it is these madrasas which have raised
suspicion about the intent of its pedagogy. Since they are largely outside the
purview of government regulation, they are free to teach religion any which way
they deem fit. Moreover, the numbers of these madrasas are much larger as
compared to the government controlled ones and hence the majority of all
madrasa going students in fact study in community controlled ones which are
hardly regulated at all. If various state governments wanted to reform
madrasas, it should be the community controlled ones in which they should
intervene. What one sees is the exact opposite: that in the name of doing
something about madrasas, governments have mostly targeted their own madrasas
which are hardly any different from government schools.
This situation
has only benefited the sectarian Ulama who maintain such institutions as their
personal fiefdoms. Millions of Muslim students who access these institutions
face a bleak future. But then, who cares. Muslims are not just oblivious of
this immense harm to their own future but in fact celebrate the existence of
such madrasas as examples of their over increasing piety. The government,
without any public pressure to reform these institutions, is only too happy to
oblige the Ulama.
To be fair,
the Assam government has also decided to close Sanskrit Tols/Pathshalas, but since they are so few in number, the message
is not lost on anyone that the real of effect of such a move will be on
madrasas. It is certainly a good idea to accommodate teachers and students of
these madrasas within the regular school system, but without the exact
notification, nothing can be certain as of now. Moreover, if the stated
objective is to keep religion out of schools, then what will happen to madrasa
teachers of Arabic and Islamic Studies? The government must see to it that they
are rehabilitated suitably and that no one loses their jobs for no fault of
theirs.
There will
be little effect of this move on the overall structure of madrasa education in
the state. The government is intervening where there is hardly any need of it
while at the same time it is reluctant to intervene where it is most required.
It appears that the real purpose of this move is to send a message that the
government is ‘putting Muslims in its place’. A convenient way of doing this is
to target madrasas; against whom a considerable negative sentiment has already
been built by various political forces.
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Arshad Alam is a columnist with
NewAgeIslam.com
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