Two Strikes On Religious Conversions: One In UP, The Other In US!

Govt orders Madrassas to transfer non-Muslim kids to schools

Dear Reader,

Today we talk about Uttar Pradesh.

The Yogi administration has directed the transfer of all non-Muslim students from government-recognized and aided madrassas to government schools.

• The directive dated June 26 came from the UP chief secretary, based on a June 7 letter from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

District magistrates are to form committees to oversee the process which is being done to ensure these students receive formal education in council schools.

UP has 16,000 government-recognized madrassas, with 560 receiving government aid but the exact number of non-Muslim students in these madrassas is unknown.

Expectedly, Islamic organizations are protesting. Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind president Maulana Mahmood Asad Madni called the order "unconstitutional."

• UP Madrasa Education Council president Iftikhar Ahmed Javed argued that non-Muslim students attend madrassas with their parents' consent.

NCPCR's Chairman Priyank Kanoongo defended the directive, accusing Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind of misleading the public.

He said that madrassas are for Islamic religious education and that retaining non-Muslim children violates their constitutional rights.

Key points that Kanoongo made:

• Madrassas are outside the Right to Education Act.

• Retaining non-Muslim children in madrassas can spread religious animosity.

• Accused Jamiat of supporting Ghazwa-e-Hind, citing a fatwa from Darul Uloom Deoband.

The controversy is ongoing, with madrassas challenging the order and the spotlight is now on the issue of religious conversion of Hindu children through madrassas.

Read in-depth the first part of this report by Swati Goel Sharma. The second part will include a case of a Hindu child converted to Islam in a madrassa.

In line with the above story, the next two stories in this newsletter focus on:

- the issue of religious conversions, and

- government schools and education in Uttar Pradesh

Read on!

No digital attendance for teachers in UP

What Is The Situation: After massive protests by the government primary teachers in Uttar Pradesh against digital attendance, the Yogi government has put the decision on hold until further orders.

How The Situation Developed:

• On 8 July, the digital attendance system was rolled out, ahead of the planned 15 July start.

• Thousands of government primary teachers hit the streets to protest against the order.

• On the first day, only 2% of teachers marked attendance digitally. The rest boycotted it.

• On 16 July, Principal Secretary of the Basic Education Department, M K Shanmuga Sundaram, announced the formation of a review committee.

Teachers' Concerns: Teachers argued that both physical and digital infrastructure need improvement.

• One demand was the resolution of the issues with leave provisions before adopting digital attendance. The other was that digital attendance should start in other government departments first.

Government's Response: Initially, the government allowed a 30-minute leniency, permitting attendance marking by 8:30 am. Later, teachers were allowed to mark digital attendance anytime during the school day.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stepped in to ease tensions: A meeting with Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and teacher union representatives led to the decision to form a review committee.

Review Committee will comprise of education department officials, teacher union representatives, and academicians.

• It will gather inputs and suggest improvements, and the government will decide on the digital attendance system's future based on its report.

The government relented as teachers' protests gained support from opposition parties like Samajwadi Party (SP). Even BJP leaders urged reconsideration. The government aimed to avoid another setback like the paper leak issue affecting the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.

Digital attendance is common in private jobs and higher education in UP. Neighboring Bihar and states like Goa, Rajasthan, and Gujarat have similar systems for teachers.

It is unfortunate that electoral calculations and deficient drafting of policies obstruct even good developments.

Bridging Conservatives: Swapan Dasgupta's Call for Dialogue Between The American & Indian Conservatives

Former Rajya Sabha member and BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta alled for an increased dialogue between the Conservatives in the anglophone countries, particularly those in the United States (US), and India.

At the National Conservatism Conference in Washington DC, Dasgupta highlighted how US-based evangelical activities often view Hindu traditions condescendingly and as "something which is primitive and barbaric."

• He emphasised the need for dialogue to address the cultural clash between Judeo-Christian US and largely Hindu India.

Cultural Clash: Dasgupta pointed out the evangelical affinity between the Conservatives in the US and the evangelical organisations propagating Christianity in India. He stressed Hinduism's openness while contrasting it with its abhorrence of religious conversion:

• “The Hindu umbrella has space for various schools of thoughts, even atheism. However, what is considered abhorrent in India is the idea of converting to another faith."

• He noted that the American view of India is influenced by the British perspectives on India from colonial times, which creates misunderstandings.

Indian Conservatism's, he stressed, "pre-occupation is with nationalism and the idea of union — values that cross political lines in India, unlike in the US where nationalism is often a dirty word.

• "In the contemporary context, Indian conservatism is about national recovery and resurgence."

• Dasgupta took a swipe at the Left for celebrating backwardness in the formerly colonised third world countries.

Speaking on this change, Dasgupta highlighted that Indian infrastructure is improving, with Indian airports surpassing the JF Kennedy airport in New York.

As the Indian diaspora grows, cultural differences with the West are diminishing.

Dasgupta urged more engagement to explore commonalities between global Conservatives.

• He likened how BJP was also looked down upon by the Indian liberal elite as a stupid party to the Republican Party's image among Ivy League alumni.

"I hope when you all have your regime change in November this process of trying to understand, exploring commonalities and engagement will increase," he said in conclusion.

You can listen to the full speech of Swapan Dasgupta here.

Until tomorrow then,

Anmol N Jain