UP Government's Bold Move: Madrassas Ordered To Transfer Non-Muslim Students To Schools, Sparking Controversy

A recent directive from the Uttar Pradesh government has mandated the transfer of all non-Muslim students from government-recognised and aided madrassas to government schools.

The move, prompted by advisories issued by the national child commission, has sparked significant controversy and opposition from various Islamic organisations.

Estimates indicate that the state has 16,000 government-recognised madrassas, with 560 receiving government aid. The number of non-Muslim students in these madrassas is currently unknown.

However, the order instructed the Minority Welfare and Waqf Department to disclose details of non-Muslim students enrolled in these madrassas and make the information public.

What The Recent Government Order Was

In an order dated 26 June, the then Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra addressed all district magistrates, referencing a 7 June letter from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), commonly known as the national child commission.

This communication directed that non-Muslim students attending government-funded madrassas should be transferred to Basic Education Council schools to receive formal education.

Additionally, the 26 June directive said that children attending madrassas not recognised by the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Council should also be enrolled in council schools.

District magistrates were instructed to establish district-level committees to oversee the implementation of this process.

Protests By Islamic Bodies

The order has faced strong opposition from Islamic organisations. Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind president Maulana Mahmood Asad Madni described the order as "unconstitutional" and has written to various government officials, urging the withdrawal of the directive. 

Madni told the media that the NCPCR has no authority to separate students in madrassas based on religion, calling it an act that divides the country.

Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Council president Iftikhar Ahmed Javed also condemned the order, stating that non-Muslim students attend madrassas with their parents' consent.

“All the non-Muslim students studying in madrasas are studying with the consent of their parents,” he told the media.

NCPCR Chairman Defends The Directive

NCPCR chairman Priyank Kanoongo defended the order, accusing Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind of misleading the public and inciting sentiments against the government. 

Kanoongo, in the recent past, has probed and taken action in several cases of forcible conversion of non-Muslim students to Islam through enrolment in madrassas.

On 13 July, he posted on X (formerly Twitter) that madrassas are centres for Islamic religious education and do not fall under the Right to Education Act. Kanoongo argued that retaining Hindu and other non-Muslim children in madrassas violates their fundamental constitutional rights and can spread religious animosity.

Two excerpts from his post (translated):

“Madrassas are centres for providing Islamic religious education and are outside the scope of the Right to Education Act. As such, retaining Hindu and other non-Muslim children in Madrasass is not only a violation of their fundamental constitutional rights but can also become a reason for spreading religious animosity in the society.”

“None should violate the religious freedom of children. I request the public with folded hands to not be misled by any fundamentalist organisation and to participate in building a better future for children.”

Kanoongo also accused Jamiat of supporting Ghazwa-e-Hind, citing a fatwa issued by Darul Uloom Deoband earlier this year.

In the X post, Kanoongo wrote that this organisation of clerics is a branch of Darul Uloom Deoband “against which Commission has taken action for supporting Ghazwa-e-Hind”.

Here is a summary of the case initiated by Kanoongo against Darul Uloom Deoband in February after a fatwa issued by Darul Uloom Deoband became public. The fatwa was in response to a written query submitted to the seminary.

The question was: “…does the hadith mention the invasion of India (Ghazwa-e-Hind), which will take place in the subcontinent? And whoever will be martyred in it is a great martyr. And the one who will be Ghazi (warrior) will go to heaven (will be Jananti)? Please reply.”

The reply by the seminary was:

“In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. In the famous book Sunan al-Nasa’i of Sahaah Sita, Imam al-Nasa’i has made a permanent chapter: Ghazwa al-Hind, under which he has narrated a hadith from Hazrat Abu Hurairah (RA): The Messenger of Allah peace be upon him promised that we would invade India.

"If I live to see that I will sacrifice myself and my wealth. If I am killed, I will be one of the best of the martyrs, and if I come back, I will be Abu Hurayrah al- Muharrar (the one freed from the fire) (Vol: 2, p: 63), published by Mukhtar and Company, Deoband. This same invasion of India (Ghazwa-e-Hind) was prophesied by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). And Allah knows best.”

The NCPCR took cognizance of the reply and issued directives to the Saharanpur district magistrate (DM) and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) to file a criminal case in this regard under IPC as well as Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

Below are two excerpts from the NCPCR notice:

“Such kinds of fatwas expose children to hatred against their own country and eventually cause them unnecessary mental or physical suffering. This violates Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015”

“Taking suo motu cognizance of the matter u/s 13 (1) (j) of the CPCR Act, it was observed that the content of the fatwa may lead to hatred against the country.”

The notice triggered protests by the seminary, with the Darul spokesperson Ashraf Usmani telling the media that if the administration initiated any legal action regarding the fatwa, the seminary would go to the court.

He defended the fatwa saying that it simply a reference of Hadith about Ghazwa-e- Hind and none of the Muftis had made any comment on it.

Later, SSP of Saharanpur Abhimanyu Manglik told the media that no grounds were found to register a case.

Future Implications

The controversy over the UP government's order concerning non-Muslim students in madrassas continues to unfold. It remains to be seen whether the madrassas' efforts to overturn the order will succeed.

Meanwhile, the order has brought the issue of Islamic conversion of Hindu children through madrassas into the spotlight. 

The second part of this report focuses on a case where a Hindu child, separated from his parents at the tender age of 10, was converted to Islam and enrolled in a madrassa without any effort by the institute to reunite him with his parents.

The child was rescued in November, eight years after he went missing. Read about the case here.