'600 Madrasas Have Been Closed; Now I Will Shut Down...': Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sharma Makes Significant Remark

Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, asserted on Thursday that he has closed 600 madrassas and plans to close them all because he prefers schools, colleges, and institutions. Speaking to a crowd for "Shiva Charithe" at Belgavi's Shivaji Maharaj Garden in the upcoming election-bound state of Karnataka, Sarma claimed that visitors from Bangladesh pose a danger to the civilization and culture of the northeastern state. "People from Bangladesh travel to Assam and endanger our culture and society. We don't want madrassas, so I've closed 600 of them and plan to shut them all down. We want schools, colleges, and universities," Sarma was cited as saying by the news agency ANI.

The decision by the Assam government to turn madrasas into regular schools has been upheld by the Guwahati High Court. Several madrasa organizations appealed the High Court's decision to the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court did not block the initiative taken by the Assam administration. In this case, the Himanta administration made the decision to convert the madrasas into regular government-aided schools by closing them entirely.

The Assam government has resolved to turn all madrasas in the state into general schools because it believes that education should be secular. The Assam government had declared that it covered the majority of the costs for the institutions that provide madrasa education at the time of the decision in 2020. Furthermore, the government does not foot the bill for offering distinct benefits to any one group. The Guwahati High Court affirmed the state's declaration and judgment.

Sarma asserted that Assam had turned into a hub of 'jihadi activities' last year after five "jihadi" units with connections to Bangladeshi terror organizations with ties to Al Qaida were discovered. At least six ABT members from Bangladesh entered India illegally between 2016 and 2017, according to intelligence reports, Sarma said, in order to establish terror modules and sleeper cells by indoctrinating local youths with 'jihadi' doctrine.

#WATCH | Karnataka: There are many people in our country who proudly say they are Muslim, Christian and I have no problem with that but we need a person who can proudly say that I am a Hindu. India needs such a person today: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma in Belagavi pic.twitter.com/IJnCWbdqTP — ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2023

At a gathering in Belgavi, Sarma also criticized the Congress, saying the group represented the 'new Mughals today' and that it demonstrated how the Mughal emperors dominated Indian history. "Once upon a time, the ruler of Delhi spoke of tearing down temples, but today, under PM Modi's leadership, I speak of erecting temples. This is the new India. This emerging India is being weakened by Congress. The new Mughals are represented by Congress today", Sarma said.

The Assam chief minister claimed that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was also a significant figure in Indian history and accused Congress and Communists of emphasizing the Mughals in that period. "The Congress and Communists demonstrated that Babur, Aurangzeb, and Shahjahan were the main figures in Indian history. I want to say that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Guru Gobind Singh, was the subject of India's past, not them," he said. According to Sarma, Aurangzeb attempted to eradicate the 'Sanatan' culture while in power and claimed that numerous individuals had been coerced into becoming Muslims.