The Uttar Pradesh government has issued an order to close down all unauthorised madrassas in the state and impose a fine of Rs 10,000 per day on those who fail to comply. The order, issued by the Minority Welfare Department on October 23, 2023, states that only those madrassas that are registered with the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrassa Education (UPBME) will be allowed to operate.
The order also directs the district magistrates and police officials to take action against the unauthorised madrassas and submit a report within 15 days. The order says that the unauthorised madrassas are violating the provisions of the UP Madrassa Education Act, 2004, and the UP Madrassa Education Rules, 2016.
According to the UPBME, there are 19,213 registered madrassas in the state, out of which 16,461 are recognized by the UP government. Days after the Uttar Pradesh government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe foreign funds in state madrassas, an investigation has begun in Muzaffarnagar against seminaries “run without proper registration or recognition”.
Notices have gone to madrassa managers for “documents required” and the district administration said it has found over 100 madrassas being run without proper papers in Muzaffarnagar district alone. Of these, 12 seminaries were sent a notice that “Rs 10,000 per day would be charged unless they close immediately”.
Muzaffarnagar’s Basic Shiksha Adhikari, Shubham Shukla, told TOI on Monday, “Notices were issued by the block education officer…Muzaffarnagar’s minority department informed us there are over 100 madrassas without proper documentation. We are asking them to register, and the procedure of recognition of a school or a madrassa is not that complicated or difficult.”
Chairman of UP Board of Madrassa Education, Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, said, “No one, including the education department, has the right to interfere in madrassa matters. Only minority department can do it. Madrassas are not like ordinary schools. Hence, rules, penalty or fine for schools cannot be applied to seminaries. In fact, in 1995, madrassas were separated from schools’ rules and regulations.”
UP secretary of Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, Qari Zakir Husain, said madrassas were being pulled up by the education department through “unlawful” notices. He added: “These notices in Muzaffarnagar are meant to target a particular community. Their rule does not apply to Islamic seminaries, schools or other religious institutions. Several madrassas received such notices and were directed to produce documents in three to five days. Those who fail to produce details will be slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 per day. How could this be possible?”
Darul Uloom Deoband’s Rabta Madaris-e-Islamia, a committee that supervises madrassas affiliated with Darul (one of the largest seminaries in the country), held a meeting two days ago and mentioned that the “issue of investigation of 4,000 state madrassas by the government was inappropriate”.
