By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 2 Aug: A recent inspection of an unregistered Madrasa in Azad Colony in Dehradun by Chairperson of Uttarakhand Child Rights Protection Commission, Dr Geeta Dawar Khanna has opened a pandora’s box regarding madrasas operating in the state. It has been revealed that a large number of unregistered madrasas are running without any fear of the law in Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh districts in particular. Despite the fact that senior district officials from these districts have been summoned by the National and Uttarakhand Child Rights Protection Commission on a number of occasions regarding this issue, the district administration still does not seem to be prepared to launch a crackdown on the illegally operating Madrasas. The main reason behind this is stated to be the lack of willpower of the administrative officials.
According to the information, more than 400 madrasas are running illegally in Uttarakhand, which need to be curbed. It is worth noting that the BJP governments of UP, Assam and Madhya Pradesh have enforced a major crackdown on illegal madrasas but here the administration is lacking the will to do so.
It may be recalled that each and every Madrasa operating in the state needs to be mandatorily registered with the State Madrasa Board of Education. But these illegally operating Madrasas have shied away from registering themselves. Another disturbing fact that has been revealed is that most of these illegally operating Madrasas are residential in nature and are housing mostly small children from other states.
Some days ago, Chairperson of Uttarakhand Child Rights Protection Commission, Dt Geeta Dawar Khanna had conducted a surprise inspection of one such Madrasa, the Jamiatul Salam ul Islamia operating from Azad Colony in Dehradun, where many irregularities were found by her. It was also residential in nature and despite the fact that it was operating in predominantly a Muslim area, the students were found to be mostly from outside the state including at least 55 from distant Bihar. The food being served to the children was not found to be of acceptable quality and sick children were also not being taken care of. It was found that the said madrasa is not registered with any educational institution and is also not registered with the Uttarakhand Madrasa Board. Here, about 250 children are being taught in cramped condition in a small building. No permission for its construction, etc., was taken from the district administration or MDDA.
Although Dr Khanna had written to the government and urged action, so far, no clear action has been taken against the Madrasa. A few months ago, similar madrasas came to light in Haridwar district when the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights received a complaint that Hindu children had also been enrolled here under RTE. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had recently summoned all the thirteen district officials of Uttarakhand to Delhi and said that the investigation report of all the madrasas should be sent to them. According to the information, after this, a nodal officer was nominated in every district, but the investigation report has not been submitted yet.
Dr Geeta Khanna insists that there is an urgent need for the government to get the madrasas investigated soon because the commission has relevant information related to the illegality of these Madrasas. Most of the madrasas operating in Uttarakhand do not meet the standards of child rights and right to education. Sources also claim that these Madrasas, despite operating illegally, are getting financial aid from some institutions including those based in Deoband and some foreign agencies as well. Sources also claim that after a strict action and crackdown launched in UP by the Yogi Government, many of the Madrasas have shifted to Uttarakhand and have started operating from here. This also explains why there are a large number of students from places as far away as Bihar in these Madrasas. It may also be recalled that, recently, UP Police had recovered 93 children in Ayodhya on the inputs provided by the sources. These children were being brought from Bihar to the madrasas of UP and Uttarakhand by a Maulvi. Sources also claim that children may be brought to Uttarakhand as part of some big conspiracy.
