Islamic schools banned in India's most populous state: Muslim community concerned

12PUNTO FOREIGN NEWS

The Allahabad High Court in India's Uttar Pradesh state has banned Islamic schools by striking down a law regulating the educational activities of madrasas and religious institutions, just weeks before nationwide elections.

According to the court ruling, the 2004 Madrasa Act was declared unconstitutional, and the state government was instructed to transfer students enrolled in the Islamic education system to general schools.

In its decision, the high court stated, "We believe that the 2004 Madrasa Act violates the principle of secularism, which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India."

The ruling included the following statements:

“Since providing education is one of the primary duties of the state, (the state) must remain secular while exercising its powers in the said field. It cannot provide education on a specific religion, its instructions, orders, and philosophies, nor can it create separate education systems for separate religions.”

Some Hindus send their children to an equivalent system known as Gurukuls, which are residential educational institutions where students learn general subjects as well as ancient Vedic texts under the supervision of a 'guru' or teacher.

The decision will be appealed to the Supreme Court of India.

According to the country's last census data from 2011, Uttar Pradesh is home to 200 million people, approximately 20% of whom are Muslim.

The country, governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been criticized in the international press over the last decade for discriminating against Muslims and causing social polarization.

Reporting on the court's decision, CNN included commentary that the secular republic is discriminating against Muslims.

According to a report by Reuters citing Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, head of the state's Board of Madrasa Education, Friday's court ruling will affect 2.7 million students and 10,000 teachers in 25,000 madrasas.

IS THE REASON 'SECULARISM' OR ANTI-MUSLIM SENTIMENT?

Furthermore, the decision was made weeks before the world's largest elections, which will be held nationwide and where an estimated 960 million people are eligible to vote.

Unless there is a surprise in the elections, the nationalist BJP is expected to remain in power for another 5 years.

Although the Allahabad High Court's ruling cited India's constitutional separation of religion and state, it was Modi who is frequently accused by critics of dismantling India's secular traditions.

Earlier this year, Modi presided over the inauguration ceremony of a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of a centuries-old mosque that was demolished by right-wing groups in 1992.

According to CNN's commentary, the opening of the temple, which was broadcast live by the government and hailed as a new era, was the result of a 'decades-long campaign by Modi and the BJP party to move India away from the secular roots on which the country was founded.'

News Source: 12punto