Uttarakhand proposes legislation to give minority status to non-muslim educational institutions
This crucial decision was taken during a cabinet meeting on Sunday, paving the way for a more inclusive and transparent educational framework.
The proposed legislation, scheduled to be tabled in the state assembly session commencing on Tuesday in Gairsain, aims to extend the benefits of minority educational institution status beyond the Muslim community, which was previously the sole beneficiary.
"This is a landmark decision aimed at fostering transparency and ensuring quality education across all minority institutions," a senior government official stated, requesting anonymity. "It will be the first such act in the country designed to establish a clear process for recognizing educational institutions established by minority communities, while simultaneously ensuring excellence in education."
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Minority status beyond Muslim institutions? What Uttarakhand's new bill proposes
The Uttarakhand Minority Educational Institutions Bill, 2025, has been cleared by the state cabinet for introduction in the monsoon assembly session beginning Tuesday in Gairsain. Uttarakhand cabinet, led by CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, clears law granting minority status to non-Muslim institutions.(@pushkardhami) The legislation seeks to extend minority status in education beyond the Muslim community to include Sikh, Jain, Christian, Buddhist, and Parsi institutions. Until now, only Muslim-run institutions have enjoyed minority recognition in the state. The proposed law will make Uttarakhand the first state in the country to establish a framework that both grants such status and enforces standards of accountability and academic quality. A key provision of the bill is the creation of the Uttarakhand State Minority Education Authority, which will serve as the nodal body to review applications, grant recognition, and monitor compliance with guidelines issued by the Uttarakhand Board of School Education. Officials told Hindustan Times the authority will ensure fairness in student assessment and promote transparency in governance. 'Once enacted, Uttarakhand will become the first state to legislate not only on granting minority status but also on ensuring academic excellence, accountability, and the protection of constitutional rights,' a senior official said. The bill requires all institutions run by Muslim, Sikh, Jain, Christian, Buddhist, or Parsi communities to obtain recognition. They must be registered under the Society Act, Trust Act, or Company Act, and properties and accounts must be maintained in the name of the institution. Officials added that the law aims to streamline a process that previously lacked uniformity, bringing it under one accountable authority. While safeguarding autonomy, it also empowers the government to oversee functioning and issue directions when necessary. According to officials, the legislation will strengthen recognition procedures, ensure greater transparency, and raise the quality of education in minority institutions, benefiting students and communities alike. The Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board Act, 2016, along with the Non-Government Arabic and Persian Madrasa Recognition Rules, 2019, will be repealed effective July 1, 2026. With inputs from Amit Bathla
Scroll.in
3 hours ago
- Scroll.in
In May crackdown on ‘foreigners', only Bengali-origin Muslims sent to Assam detention centre
On May 24, the Matia detention centre began to fill up as the Assam police launched a drive to round up alleged illegal immigrants in the state. Over the next few days, reports appeared of Bengali-origin Muslims held at the centre being taken to India's border with Bangladesh and being forced to cross over at gunpoint. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the Assembly that 303 'foreigners' had been pushed into Bangladesh. But he did not disclose their identities. Scroll filed a Right to Information query with the office of the Inspector-General of Prisons, Assam, asking for information on the number of detainees at the Matia centre, details of their cases, and when they were admitted inside. We also asked for detailed information on those who had been released, deported or 'pushed' into Bangladesh since April 2025. The Assam government's reply to our questions was incomplete. It did not share any information about those forced to cross the border into Bangladesh. However, it gave us a list of those detained at the Matia detention centre between May 27 and July 8. All 53 of them are Muslims. The RTI response Most of those rounded up in that crackdown were declared foreigners like the 51-year-old teacher from Morigaon, Khairul Islam, who was arrested and then forced out of Indian territory. Declared foreigners are typically long-term residents with families and properties in Assam, who have failed to prove that they are Indian citizens before the state's foreigners tribunals. Islam was forced out even though his case, challenging the foreigners tribunal order, was pending in the Supreme Court. Similarly, Shona Bhanu, a 59-year-old resident of Barpeta, was expelled from Indian territory. Both had told Scroll that they were first kept at the Matia camp before being taken to the no man's land between India and Bangladesh. However, the Assam government does not seem to have acknowledged these arrests, let alone their being expelled from India. The Assam prisons department informed Scroll that 53 declared foreigners were arrested and admitted in the camp on May 27, 28 and 29and July 8, all of them Muslims. However, the RTI reply has no record of Islam and Bhanu being admitted to the camp in May. Moreover, when Scroll put together an Assam government affidavit in the Supreme Court and the information from the RTI response, it became clear – in the last nearly 12 months, only Muslim declared foreigners have faced arrest and incarceration in Assam. The CAA model Foreigner tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies unique to Assam, which rule on citizenship cases. They have been accused of arbitrariness and bias, and declaring people foreigners on the basis of minor spelling mistakes, a lack of documents or lapses in memory. Many of the appeals to FT orders are pending in the higher courts. In the last five decades, Assam's foreigners tribunals have declared 1.6 lakh people as non-citizens, of whom 69,559 are Hindus. In recent years, several declared foreigners had been released from imprisonment after the Supreme Court and the Gauhati High Court ruled against their prolonged incarceration. But that changed in August 2024. The Assam government began a renewed crackdown on declared foreigners, who were arrested and sent to the Matia detention centre. By September 2024, the number of detained declared foreigners at Matia, the largest detention centre in India, had increased by four times to 72. However, all the newly arrested declared foreigners, who were sent to the detention centre in August, were Muslims, according to the Assam government affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on February 3 this year. The admission list at the Matia centre, which is maintained by the camp authorities and was seen by Scroll, also showed that only Muslim declared foreigners were admitted following the crackdown. As is evident from the RTI response from the Assam prisons headquarters, the May crackdown leading to 'pushbacks' followed the same pattern. The decision to spare Hindu declared foreigners is in line with the Assam government's implementation of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, which had triggered fierce protests from Assamese nationalists in 2019 . For instance, in July 2024, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government asked the state's border police not to forward cases of non-Muslims who had entered India illegally before 2014 to foreigners tribunals. As Scroll had reported, this was a clear sign of the Assam government putting in place a citizenship regime that excludes Muslims. Last month, too, the Assam Government asked district authorities and members of the foreigners tribunals to drop cases against the members of six non-Muslim communities who are granted amnesty under CAA. While Assamese nationalists were opposed to all immigrants, whether Hindu or Muslim, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has raised the alarm against 'Muslim infiltration'. 'In Assam, we are fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border, which has already caused an alarming demographic shift. In several districts, Hindus are now on the verge of becoming a minority in their own land.' No Rohingyas In May, Scroll had reported that all the Rohingya detainees had been expelled from the detention centre even though their cases were pending in the courts. The Assam prison headquarters' reply confirms that there are no Rohingya inmates at Matia. As of July 23, of the 110 inmates at Matia, three are 'convicted foreigners', 80 declared foreigners and 27 Chin refugees. But on April 24 this year, there were 103 Rohingya refugees – 37 of them children – at the Matia camp, according to the lists maintained by the detention centre, which were accessed by Scroll. The department said there is 'no record available pertaining' to whether the refugees were deported or pushed across into Bangladesh. Scroll had reported that they were expelled from the detention centre without following due process. Sarma had announced that several inmates of the Matia detention centre in Assam, including Rohingya refugees, were 'pushed back' into Bangladesh as part of a countrywide 'operation' by the Indian government.
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
New Uttarakhand Bill to do away with Madrasa Board, extend minority education benefits beyond Muslims
The Uttarakhand Cabinet has approved a decision to introduce the Uttarakhand Minority Educational Institutions Bill, 2025, which, among other aspects, will repeal the Madrasa Board and the rules governing the minority-run institutions in the state. According to an official communication, the proposed Bill aims to extend the benefits of Minority Educational Institutions status to the minority communities other than Muslims. This has sparked concern among Muslim groups that the proposed law might result in erosion of their rights under Articles 26 and 30 of the Constitution that provide rights to run educational institutions and manage religious affairs. The proposed Bill, if enacted, will also permit the study of Gurmukhi and Pali in recognised minority educational institutions from July 1 next year and will also lead to the dissolution of the Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board Act, 2016, and the Uttarakhand Non-Government Arabic and Persian Madrasa Recognition Rules, 2019. The rules empower the Madrasa Board to chart the syllabus, set guidelines, conduct examinations, and inspect madrasas to ensure they fulfil eligibility criteria. At present, the board has a Recognition Committee that deals with granting recognition to madrasas. 'The committee shall have a member nominated by the 13-member board, an 'academician-rank' member, the deputy registrar, and a 'headmaster-rank' member,' the rules of the board state. The proposed Bill is likely to make recognition of the institution null and void as it allows Sikhs, Jains, Christians, Buddhists and Parsis to run minority educational institutions as against the current provision only for Muslims. At present, 452 'recognised' madrasas operate across the state. It also mandates educational institutions to obtain recognition from the 'concerned authority' to qualify as minority educational institutions. It also requires the educational institution to be registered under the Societies Act, Trust Act, or Companies Act while ownership of land, bank accounts and other assets to be in the institution's name. 'Recognition can be withdrawn in cases of financial mismanagement, lack of transparency, or activities against religious and social harmony,' the communication read. The Dhami government's move to introduce the Bill comes six months after it started a madrasa-sealing drive to shut institutions not recognised by the board or the education department. The Recognition Committee, which had not met since 2020, convened a meeting on February 27, a day before the drive began, leading to 'unrecognised' madrasas being shut. Expressing concern, Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind's state secretary Khurshid Ahmed said, 'Initially, the Uniform Civil Code curbed the right to practice the religion, the anti-conversion Act will further depreciate the situation. With the madrasa board being nullified, religious education will be hampered. The (Pushkar Singh Dhami) government has been implementing policies to erode the rights that the Constitution guarantees under Articles 25 to 30. We will analyse the Bill once it is introduced and assess if it needs to be legally challenged.' The state government, however, claims that the Bill is aimed at 'establishing a transparent process for granting recognition to educational institutions set up by minority communities in the state, while ensuring quality and excellence in education'. State BJP chief Mahendra Bhatt said the legislation mirrors the BJP's motto of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas (everyone together, development for all)' and will 'safeguard the Constitutional rights of minorities'. 'Until now, only Muslims reaped the benefits of minority educational institutions. The proposed Bill will ensure that other minority communities also benefit. The Bill is important as several irregularities and scams with regard to educational institutions have come to light in the recent past,' he said. Terming the move 'unfortunate' and 'politically motivated', former Uttarakhand CM and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat called for modernisation of the madrasa board. 'Madrasas are supplementary to our education system. Just like Sanskrit schools, where scholars are made, madrasas give birth to scholars of religious philosophy. If the board has shortcomings, rectify it. The Bill is being tabled as the BJP is upset with its performance in the recent panchayat polls,' he said.
