Madhya Pradesh Culture Minister Usha Thakur sparked a controversy with her claims that all terrorists are raised in madrasas. She has also called for the shutdown of madrasas and has suggested that the government should discontinue its funding to them.
Speaking in Indore, the minister said that all radicals and terrorists have studied in these madrasas. To her, madrasas in-state are “spreading radicalization” She said that such madrasa that fails to link children to nationalism should be brought to mainstream education for the “collective progress of the society”.
“There should be uniformity in education. Religion-based education is spreading radicalization, feeling of enmity. Therefore, every student should get the same education collectively. If you are a citizen of the country, you will see that all radicals and terrorists are raised in madrasas, they had turned Jammu and Kashmir into a terror factory,” She said in her statement to the press.
“The government should stop giving funds to madrasas. Waqf Board in itself is an able organization and if someone, in a personal capacity, wishes to impart religious teachings, he is free to do so as per our Constitution” the minister added further.
Her statement comes in the backdrop of the Assam government’s recent announcement related to shutting down madrasas. Early in October, Assam Health and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that government will shut down all state-run madrasas as it cannot allow teaching religious education with public money.
“In my opinion, teaching ‘Quran’ can’t happen at the cost of government money, if we have to do so then we should also teach both the Bible and Bhagvad Gita. So, we want to bring uniformity and stop this practice,” Sarma had said.
