By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
Ahmedabad: In a fresh move to make things difficult for madrasas, the Gujarat police have come up with a questionnaire that has antagonised madrasas, as its tone and text reflects a biased mentality against the Muslim community.
The state police have asked all madrasas in the state to furnish details about their sources of funds and provide documents about the land on which the madrasa
buildings have been constructed. It is said that this is the first time that such details are being sought from madrasas. Madrasa authorities feel that the latest move of the state police is aimed at harassing them, rather than gathering genuine information. What is more surprising for madrasas is that the police became more active soon after the commencement of the Darul Uloom Deoband fatwa which clearly denounced terrorism and called it an anti-Islam act.
It is not that the police in the past had not been questioning madrasas. Earlier, the police questioning centred seeking information about the background of its students and faculty members.
The questionnaire also asks madrasas to submit details about their syllabus, teaching timings and their vacation period.
Digging deeper, the police are also asking madrasas about the type of degree and certificates being given to the students and the school of thought they belong to like Sunni (Barelvi), Sunni (Deobandi/Tablighi), Ahl-e-Hadith or Shia.
Interestingly, the police also want madrasas to provide information about
all PCOs/telephone booths which are running within one kilometre radius of the madrasas.
The harassment of madrasas does not end here. The police are seeking information whether any student or teacher has been convicted in any criminal offence.