By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
Swarajya magazine, one of the leading Hindu right-wing publications, recently lauded a move to stop madrassas in Assam from taking an off on Friday, as has been the case for several years. In the article published yesterday, the magazine believed that the proposed action to be taken against madrassas had a lot of support. From whom? From BJP, of course, and a couple of nameless student leaders. The rest? We do not know.
(for representation only)
The article, written in a typical right-wing language, calls Himanta Biswa Sarma as a ‘no-nonsense’ leader and congratulates him for his supposed actions to be taken in this regard. However, as is often the case with these publications, it conveniently overlooks the fact that the same person, Sarma, was a part of the Congress party which ruled the state for 15 years and jumped ships months before the state elections. The fact that he never spoke even once against this rule during his time in Congress is clearly not a problem because according to Swarajya, he is absolved of all his mistakes since he now works for BJP.
But beyond that, there are a few facts that need to be pointed out to rubbish the claims that the madrassas are doing everything of their own accord and are not allowed to be off on Friday.
For one, it is the Assam government which allows them to do, as pointed out by noted Guwahati lawyer Aman Wadud. Speaking on the matter, he said in a Facebook post: “Kindly have a look at Sec 20(5) of Assam Education Rules and Orders 1955-1956. It says madrassas will observe holiday on Friday. How is it illegal and arbitrary? This rule is not made by madrassas but by government of Assam in 1955-1956,” he says, making it clear that contrary to the reports, it is a decision validated by the government.
Then what is the ruckus about? Nothing much, but the right-wingers do not like to shut up.
“Sarma said that a circular would be issued soon to all institutions and establishments notifying that they can remain shut only on Sundays. He said that the practice of keeping madrassas closed on Fridays is most widespread in Lakhimpur, Nagaon and Morigaon districts, where Muslims, most of them of Bangladeshi-origin and whose citizenship status is suspect, have a large presence,” said the report by Swarajya.
But how did it arrive at the point that Muslims of Lakhimpur, Nagaon and Morigaon are mostly from Bangladesh and their citizenship is suspect? Isn’t that to be determined by the legal apparatus of the country? Wadud says that the current statement made by Sarma follows his attempts to divide the society on religious lines. “In his previous remarks, he said that citizenship would only be given Bangladeshi Hindus to prevent Hindus from becoming a minority. If this is not dividing the society on religious lines, then what is?” asked Wadud.
Wadud, who has actively worked with numerous Assamese citizens wrongfully labelled as Bangladeshis, also hit out at Swarajya magazine for naming Muslims of three districts: Lakhimpur, Nagaon and Morigaon as mostly “Bangladesh-origin”. “Where did the reporter get this information? It is an issue that impacts people across Assam, both Hindus and Muslims.
Take the example of people categorised as Doubtful voters, or D-voters. Our studies have shown that there are nearly 1.37 lakh people listed as D-voters, of which nearly half are Bengali Hindus. Then how did most of the Muslims in these regions become suspect?” he asks.
As expected, this move has come under criticism from Badruddin Ajmal and his party the All India United Democratic Front, along with Muslims leaders of Congress. Speaking with the Assamese media, Ajmal said, “The practice of madrassas being closed on Friday dates back to the pre-independence era. What is Sarma trying to achieve by questioning this practice now? Sundays were historically a day off in Western countries so that people would attend Church that day. If Sarma is truly not anti-Muslim, then he should also keep schools and colleges open on Sunday.”
Nevertheless, it is clear that the Muslims in Assam are in for a tough period, given the ruling party’s desperate attempts to make their lives even more uncomfortable.