Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Sunday said that the Madrassa word should not exist. He said about the importance of formal education rather than religious education . He was responding to a former chancellor of the Hyderabad Maulana Azad University who hailed the Assam government’s decision to dissolve all madrasas and turn them into general schools.
He said that till the Madrassa word exists children were not able to think of becoming doctors and engineers, he told to teach children subjects like Maths ,Science , Biology , Zoology at school and Religious texts can be taught at home. But in schools, they should study to become doctors, engineers, professors and scientists, Sarma said when asked how he plans to help put more Muslim students in colleges and universities.
Students in madrassas are extremely talented – they can memorise every word of the Quran by heart, the former chancellor pointed out. “All Muslims were Hindus,” Sarma said in a sharp retort, adding, “No one was born a Muslim (in India). Everyone was a Hindu in India. So, if a Muslim child is extremely meritorious, I will give partial credit to his Hindu past.
In 2020 the Assam government decided to dissolve all the government run Madrassas and convert them into general education institution.
But this year, the Guwahati High Court upheld the Assam Repealing Act, 2020, under which all provincialised (government-funded) madrassas were to be converted into general schools in the state. 13 people had filed a petition in the High Court in 2021 challenging the government’s decision to convert the state-funded madrassas to general schoolsv
