India’s Muslim teachers have said they would appeal against a verdict by a court in Uttar Pradesh that has effectively banned Islamic schools in Uttar Pradesh.
The All-India Teachers Association Madaris Arabia said that they would move the Supreme Court against the controversial Allahabad High Court’s ruling. The ruling is unconstitutional that violates Article 30 of the Constitution, which allows minorities to run own educational institutions, the secretary-general of the association said. Wahidullah Khan voiced hope that the Supreme Court will provide justice.
He said that teachers are highly qualified at madrasas. Khan questioned what is the point of sending the kids to different schools?
Madrasas kids are as good in English education as kids at normal schools, says Islamic Madrasa Modernization Teachers Association of India President Azaz Ahmed.
We are also planning to challenge the Allahabad court ruling, he continued.
Ahmed hoped that despite the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s announcement, the state’s government would come forward and prevent the dismantling of Islamic schools as we need immediate relief.
On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrasa Education Chairman Iftikhar Ahmed Javed said that the state’s administration was also discussing whether the verdict should be challenged in the apex court.
Last week, Allahabad High Court had banned madrasas (seminaries) in the Uttar Pradesh ahead of national elections.
The court had thrown the law, which had governed madrasas in UP since 2004, and ordered that students be shifted to conventional schools. The ruling cited constitutional secularism violations.
The Allahabad High Court order will affect 2.7 million students and 10,000 teachers in 25,000 madrasas across the UP state, Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, the state’s head of the board of madrasa education said.
