The politics of madrasa survey

Source– The post is based on the article “The politics of madrasa survey” published in The Hindu on 20th October 2022.

Syllabus: GS1- Communalism. GS2- Vulnerable sections

Relevance– Issues regarding minorities

News- The article explains the issues raised by some state government moves to undertake the survey of madrasas. It also tells about the findings of the Sachar committee report.

What are the concerns regarding the survey?

There are concerns about the ideological aspect of this survey.

There are questions regarding the majoritarian agenda behind the survey.

Whether it is inspired by prejudice towards the Muslims.

What are the main arguments about madrasas in India?

The first is that Muslims are economically backward because most of them are educated in madrasas.

The second argument is that madrasas are nurseries of radical Islam. This view gained momentum globally after the 9/11 attack.

What are the findings of the Sachar Committee report?

It found that only 3% of Muslim children of school-going age go to madrasas at the national level.

It also drew a distinction between madrasas and maktabs. Maktabs are neighbourhood schools, often attached to mosques. They offer religious education to children who attend other schools to get mainstream education. The share of Muslims who attend madrasas and maktabs is not more than 6.3%

Muslims are aspirational. The Muslim parents wants good education for their children. But there are financial constraints on them.

The report therefore recommended scholarships for Muslim students so that they don’t drop out of school.

The authors of the Sachar Committee report deliberately chose to stay away from discussions over party politics or issues of secularism or communalism and the implications of these for the

welfare of Muslims. They pretended as if no causal relationship exists between ideology and development.

What is the history of madrasas?

They emerged after 1857 mutiny to save Muslim identity from colonial intervention. They suspected the imposition of Christian values.

Deoband and Aligarh Muslim University did not seek sate support. They focussed on autonomy.

They also opposed the partition.