Major row sparked off as the Allahabad High Court bans Madrasa in Uttar Pradesh

The Allahabad High Court has declared the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, “unconstitutional”. This essentially bans Madrasas, Islamic schools, in India's most populous state.

“We are studying the judgement. Our legal team headed by advocate Afzal Siddiqui is vetting all the legal options to appeal in the Supreme Court. However, if relief is not given then a problem will arise before madrasa teachers, staff, students and their family members,” said Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, chairman, Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Board. 

This move will be taken as a highly controversial trajectory in UP that sends 80 MPs into Lok Sabha.  Will this move now 'further distance Muslims' from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP ahead of general elections?  

“There are 16,500 recognized, 560 aided and 8,500 unrecognized madrasas in UP, where over 2 lakh students are getting education. The budget of aided madrasas is Ts 900 crore. Where will these students go...to which schools would they be transferred," said Javed.

"If this order is implemented, I am also worried about the fate of 10,000 teachers and their families,” he said.

The judgement from Judges Subhash Vidyarthi and Vivek Chaudhary said:

“The state government shall also ensure that children between the ages of 6 to 14 years are not left without admission in duly recognised institutions".

The court order follows an appeal by lawyer Anshuman Singh Rathore.  

The BJP or Prime Minister Modi deny religious discrimination exists in India. The BJP says the government is undoing historical wrongs, including recently inaugurating a Hindu temple on the site of a 16th-century mosque razed in 1992. 

Many Hindus believe the mosque was built where God-king Ram was born and over a temple demolished under the Mughal ruler Babur.

Rakesh Tripathi, a spokesperson for BJP Uttar Pradesh, which runs the state government, said it was not against madrassas and expressed concern about the education of Muslim students.

“We are not against any madrassa but we are against discriminatory practices. We are against illegal funding, and the government will decide on further action after going through the court’s order.”

Muslim Population in Uttar Pradesh stands at 3.85 crore making 19.26 percent of total 19.98 Crore. Islam is followed with majority in 1 out of 71 districts in the northern state where BJP is in power since 2017 under Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister. Only Rampur district has maximum Muslims.  

Nationwide with around 204 million Muslims (2019 estimate), India's Muslim population is the world's third-largest and the world's largest Muslim-minority population. India is home to 10.9% of the world's Muslim population.  

Islam is the second largest religion in India, with 14.2% of the country's population. A few BJP leaders say instead of calling themselves 'minorities'; Muslims should see themselves as the 'second majority religious group'.

Election process has already begun in the country and poll schedules have been announced by the Election Commission.

Modi-led BJP is widely expected to win the polls. Muslims and rights groups have accused some BJP members and affiliates of the saffron party of promoting anti-Islamic hate speech and vigilantism.