By Team Clarion
LUCKNOW – The Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a response within four weeks on a petition filed by the Arabic Madrasa Committee against what it calls repeated harassment of madrasas in the state.
The matter was heard on Monday by a bench of Justices Sangeeta Chandra and Brij Raj Singh at the Lucknow bench of the high court.
The petition was filed by Ayaz Mustafa Khan, head of the managing committee of Arabic Madrasa Committee in Uttar Pradesh, after the state government ordered the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to inspect 558 Islamic seminaries. The inspection, according to the government, was directed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Senior advocates BK Singh, Mohammad Ali Ausaf, and Gauri Shankar Mor appeared on behalf of the Arabic Madrasa Committee. Government lawyer Afzal Ahmed Siddiqui represented the Madrasa Board of Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking to reporters, Siddiqui said: “The high court has sought a reply from the government. The next hearing will take place on October 6.”
The teachers’ union of Madrasa Arabia has also expressed deep anger, saying the constant orders for inspections amount to harassment of Muslim institutions. “We are being inspected again and again as if madrasas are criminals. This is not inspection, it is intimidation,” said one senior teacher in Lucknow.
Ayaz Mustafa Khan, the petitioner, argued that the state government’s actions go against constitutional protections. “Madrasas have existed in Uttar Pradesh for centuries. Our forefathers built them with hard work. Why are they being criminalised today?” he asked.
This story was originally published in clarionindia.net. Read the full story here.
