PNN – A court in Uttar Pradesh state has banned the operation of Islamic schools on the eve of India’s national elections.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network from Reuters news agency, a court in India has banned Islamic schools in the country’s most populous state, a move that could alienate many Muslims from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government ahead of a general election.
The court overturned the 2004 school law in Uttar Pradesh, saying it violated the Indian constitution’s secularism law, and the new order ordered students to be transferred to regular schools.
Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, head of the school education board in this state, where one fifth of the 240 million population is Muslim, said: Allahabad High Court ruling affects 2.7 million students and 10.000 teachers in 25.000 schools.
The order directs the state government to also ensure that children between the ages of 6 and 14 are not left without admission to accredited institutions.
India will hold general elections from April to June 2024, which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Narendra Modi is expected to win. Muslims and human rights groups have accused some members and affiliates of this party of promoting hate speech, Islamophobia and destroying property belonging to Muslims, but Modi denies the existence of religious discrimination in India.
The Bharatiya Janata Party says the government is correcting historical wrongs, including the recent opening of a Hindu temple on the site of a 16th-century mosque demolished by the same party in 1992.
Rakesh Tripathi, the party’s spokesman in Uttar Pradesh, which runs the state government, said the Bharatiya Janata Party is not against Islamic schools but is concerned about the education of Muslim students.
He added: We are not against any school, but we are against discriminatory practices. We are against the illegal funds allocated to these schools and the central and state governments will decide on the next course of action after the court order is implemented.
The Uttar Pradesh government suspended a funding program for Islamic schools in January, laying off 21,000 teachers.
Javed said: Friday’s order will apply to all private and public schools.
The court did not announce the timing of its order, but Javed said schools are unlikely to be closed immediately.
The northeastern state of Assam, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, has converted hundreds of Islamic schools into mainstream schools.