AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked why Hindu social reformer Raja Rammohan Roy used to study in madrasas.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has strongly criticised Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks on madrassa (madrasha). He said madrasas are not like branches, they teach self-respect and sense of mind. Owaisi also said that at a time when the Chief Minister of Assam is talking about madrasas, about seven lakh people of Assam have been affected due to floods and 18 people have died in the state.
Speaking at an event in Delhi, the Assam Chief Minister said that as long as there are madrasas, children will not be able to think of becoming doctors and engineers. He also said the word madrasa should be abolished. He compared the admission of children in madrasas to human rights violations. Himanta Biswa Sarma said no one is saying don’t read the Koran. The Chief Minister also emphasized the importance of teaching science, mathematics, biology, botany and zoology to a student. He said, give 2-3 hours of religious education. But the way a student should be taught in the school, make arrangements so that he can become a doctor or an engineer.
Responding to the Assam Chief Minister, the AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said science, mathematics, social studies are taught in many madrasas besides Islam. He claimed that at the time when the Sanghis acted as agents of the British, many madrasas were in the service of the country’s independence movement.
Owaisi claimed madrasas are different from branches. They teach self-respect and compassion. Taking a dig at Assam CM he said, “the illiterate people will not understand this.” He asked why Hindu social reformer Raja Rammohan Roy used to study in madrasas. Owaisi also said that the Assam Chief Minister’s remarks were inferior to Muslims. “Muslims have embraced India and will continue to do so.”
Himanta Biswa Sarma was Assam’s education minister before becoming the chief minister this time. In 2020, he decided to abolish all madrasas aided by the government of Assam and convert them into general schools. The then Education Minister and now Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had passed a law in the Assam Legislative Assembly to repeal the Madrasah Education Provincialization Act 1955 and the Assam Madrasah Education Act 2018 to reform education. The Guwahati High Court has upheld the act and the State Government’s subsequent order on it.
