Uttar Pradesh mulls setting up two universities to affiliate madrassas with them

Lucknow: Amid the ongoing controversy over shifting the students of the unrecognised madarssas (Islamic Schools) to the schools run by the state government, the Uttar Pradesh government had been contemplating to set up two universities to affiliate the madrassas with them.

Sources in the state minority welfare ministry said that the affiliation of the madrassas with the newly established universities would be done on the lines of affiliation of different colleges with the University of Lucknow and similar other universities in the state.

The official, however, did not provide any timeline for the setting up of the universities.

UP minister for minority welfare Om Prakash Rajbhar also reportedly hinted at setting up two universities for this purpose.  ‘’The previous Samajwadi Party and BSP governments never thought about it....we want this controversy to end,’’ Rajbhar said.

The Islamic scholars, however, said that the state government must speak to the concerned stakeholders before initiating any such move. ‘’The government must ensure that there was no violation of the fundamental rights of the minorities by this decision,’’ said an Islamic scholar here.

The possible move of the state government comes close on the heels of a letter to the state by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) asking the government to shift all non-Muslim students studying at the madrassas to state run schools.

The letter also asked the state government to shift all the students studying at unrecognised madrassas to the state run schools. According to reports, there are more than four thousand unrecognised madrassas in the state.

The UP Chief Secretary had written letters to all the District Magistrates to implement the directives of the NCPCR. It also asked for an inquiry into the admission of non-Muslim children in the madrassas.

According to the official sources, there are currently around 25 thousand madrassas in the state.