What Does the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Survey Want to Achieve?

By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam 28 October 2022 There Seems To No Clear-Cut Strategy With Regard To These Institutions Main Points: 1. So far, there are reports of 7000 unrecognized madrasas in UP 2. There are ideological and bureaucratic reasons for such a high number 3. The more important question is whether there is any larger objective behind such a survey 4. The government says it wants to mainstream madrasas but does not spell out what it means by mainstreaming 5. This looks like another exercise in ad hocism which will only benefit the politics of religious polarization ------ Few weeks back, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister ordered that all madrasas in the state be surveyed. The district magistrate was made in charge of the survey, assisted by officials of minority and education departments. If news reports are to go by, that survey is now over and it appears that the data will be made available sometime in November. The media reported, sensationally of course, that there were about 7000 unrecognized madrasas in Uttar Pradesh. They reported the matter as if all these 7000 institutions were running illegally, although this is far from truth. In terms of administrative control and authority, there are different kinds of madrasas all over India. Being unrecognized in this case simply means that these madrasas were not registered with the madrasa board of Uttar Pradesh, although they must be a registered entity. Being an unrecognized madrasa simply means that it does not get perks from the state, such as salary of science/math teachers, infrastructural grants etc. Further, it means that it’s syllabus need not be vetted by the state government; that they are free to teach subjects of their own liking and teach them the way they want it. In short, there is no governmental oversight in these madrasas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Also Read: Madrasa Education is a Clear Violation of the Human Rights of Children: Sultan Shahin asks UNHRC to make Muslim Countries Stick to their Pious Declarations ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seven thousand is a large number. There can be many reasons why so many madrasas are unregistered/unrecognized. Since 2011, when Mayawati was the chief minister, the UP madrasa board stopped giving recognition to new madrasas. The same policy was continued till 2017 during the reign of Akhilesh Yadav. It is very natural therefore that all madrasas in the state which have been established since 2011 would be unrecognized. Moreover, anecdotal evidence suggests that ever since the Yogi government came to power, there has been a certain unease within the madrasa establishment regarding its intention. As a result of which they themselves do not want any recognition from the state whatsoever. File Photo ----- But there is an ideological reason as well which is explained in the foundational statement of Deoband Madrasa. One of the principles of that madrasa was that the institution should desist from taking any financial or other grant from the government. The reason is that since madrasa is primarily for the purpose of imparting religious education; it is will be blameworthy to take money from any non-Islamic source. Deoband avoided not just the colonial source but also the post-Independence Indian source. There are many madrasas which follow the Deoband model, particularly in Western UP, and hence they would be ideologically wary of getting anywhere near the state. A more pragmatic reason though it that any assistance from the government also brings in its wake supervision and auditing. Since most madrasas are run as private fiefdoms, no one wants to cede their control and authority to the state. The real question is not how many madrasas are unrecognized but what does the government intend to do with them. Ostensibly, the purpose is to elevate the level of education within these madrasas. Danish Azad Ansari, the lone Muslim minister in the UP cabinet is on record to say that the intention is to mainstream madrasas, bring them on par with government schools. He is probably right that Muslims are overreacting regarding the intent of the present government. One look at the questions in the survey is sufficient to tell us that the government is basically interested in collecting data on various facets of these madrasas, including of course their source of funding. No government can be called out simply because it asks such questions from any religious or educational institution. Muslims, simply because of being citizens of this country, should have no qualms in providing this information to the designated authority. However, whether the madrasas themselves maintain this information is an open question as most of them run on community donations with very little transparency in terms of record keeping. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Also Read: Evolution of Hadith Sciences and Need for Major Paradigm Shift in Role of Hadith Corpus and Scope of Madrasa Education ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ But one is not too sure if the government has put its mind as to how it wants to mainstream these madrasas. What does this mainstreaming mean in this context? Does it mean overhauling the curriculum of these madrasas by including modern subjects? Is the government willing to commit such resources for madrasa education, given the fact that it revels in displaying anti-minority attitudes? Also, how will this be any different from the modernization programme run by the previous Congress government? And if there is no difference between the two, then what objective will this madrasa survey serve? Moreover, have they thought how the Muslim community will react to it and how are they going to tackle this reaction? The Congress government floated a proposal to set up an All India Madrasa Board which would have solved problems of recognition. However, the reaction from the Ulama was so severe that the proposal was hurriedly shelved. After all, most of these madrasas are specifically designed to teach a sectarian curriculum and have no interest in teaching modern sciences. How does the government propose to bring together the warring factions of Deobandis and Barelvis? It is questions like these which makes one think whether the government has really thought about the issue or is just another political gimmick? But let us suppose that everyone agrees on the mainstreaming of madrasas. Then what? Are we going to teach students Islamic and secular subjects at the same time? Does this even make any pedagogic sense? The Quran classes will tell them that the sun goes down in a dirty pond every evening while their science classes will tell them something else. How will they maintain the distinction between theology and history? This will perhaps produce a model as per the wishes of our prime minister: Quran in one hand and computer in another. But isn’t that precisely the problem? The foremost example of this marriage of Quran and computer was Osama bin Laden; do we want our children to emulate him? Or should we be giving them an education which motivates them to pursue higher learning in sciences and art without being in the least encumbered by religious dogmas? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Also Read: RESTRUCTURING MADRASA EDUCATION: Muslim Opponents of India’s 'Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act' are Enemies of Indian Muslims ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The less said about the Muslim response, the better it is. Mr. Owaisi has called this survey mini- NRC, simply because some questions are being asked from madrasas. As if these institutions have their own sovereignty and are above the law of the land. Unfortunately, Muslims do not see the harm that comes from madrasa education; if at all it can be called as an education. What good can come out of any system whose children are made to learn that the earth is flat. What good can come out of a system which does not give its children a sense of the nation and world? Certainly, people like Mr. Owaisi can earn their law degrees in the United Kingdom but who cares for the poor Muslims studying in madrasas. Let them just be used for furthering the political careers of Muslim leaders. ---- A regular contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Arshad Alam is a writer and researcher on Islam and Muslims in South Asia. URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/madrasa-survey-achieve-religious-education/d/128287 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism