At a time when many States such as Uttar Pradesh and Assam are taking steps to rein in unregistered madrasas, the West Bengal Government is going the opposite way. Opposition parties like the BJP and the ISF and even Muslim clerics are seeing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s move as an attempt to woo minority voters in the State ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Chief Minister announced the formation of a committee to improve the infrastructure at Khareji madrasas, which follow their own religious syllabus and are funded by charity from Muslim community members and institutions.
“The Khareji madrasas have around 500,000 students. We have plans to develop these. A high-power committee comprising educationists, officials from various Government departments and representatives of the Muslim community, will soon be formed. It will conduct a survey and submit its report in six months,” Banerjee said. She explained that the initiative is aimed at bringing various welfare schemes of the State Government to the students of the madrasas.
The Chief Minister also referred to the 720-odd non-aided madrasas, which follow the syllabus of the West Bengal Board of Madrasa Education but are not affiliated to it yet despite their long-standing demand.
“We will give recognition to 700 non-aided madrasas. Of these, 235 have already fulfilled the criteria for Government affiliation,” Banerjee said while describing what her Government has done for Muslims, tribal people and other minority communities after coming to power 12 years ago.
Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader said: “This is nothing but a desperate ploy to get support of the minority community, whose votes are shifting away from her party. At the most, she can provide mid-day meals to these madrasas with funds from the Centre. These are electoral promises,” said Adhikari.
He claimed that the law of the land did not permit the Government to support institutions which propagate religious teachings.
The BJP, the State’s principal Opposition force, claims that the Muslim population in Bengal now hovers around 34 per cent. As per the 2011 census, Muslims comprise 27.01 per cent of West Bengal’s population and in certain districts like Murshidabad, it is as high as 67 per cent.
ISF leader Nawsad Siddiqui, the only Muslim Opposition legislator in Bengal, whose family is the custodian of Hooghly district’s sacred Furfura Sharif shrine, also criticised the move.