Madrasas under scanner
TAKING STOCK Police say the role of unregulated madrasas cannot be ruled out in Bengal’s Basirhat violence
With the communal violence that rocked West Bengal’s Basirhat having ebbed, questions are now being raised over whether unregulated madrasas, locally called khareji madrasas, had a role in last week’s mayhem.
Basirhat in the North 24 Parganas district bordering Bangladesh was swept by violence for several days after Muslim mobs went on a rampage, angered by a controversial Facebook post by a Hindu teenager. One person was killed and several homes, shops and vehicles torched before sanity was restored.
Stunned by the scale of the violence, sections of locals have blamed outsiders for it. But police say the role of unregulated madrasas, often viewed as breeding ground of radicalisation, cannot be ruled out. Under scanner are two in Ghoraras and Kholapota of Basirhat and one in nearby Baduria. West Bengal has a long tradition of madrasa education. There are three types: Madrasas that are government approved and funded, ones that are approved but get no funding and the more common kind that operate without any approval and outside any regulation.
The unregulated ones are more in number and more problematic, say police officials. By last count, there are some 6,000 madrasas in West Bengal of which about 90% are unregulated Unregulated (khareji) madrasas in West Bengal
Government approved madrasas and those approved but not funded
Basirhat and adjoining areas have more than three dozen khareji madrasas
Khareji madrasas do not follow government syllabus and teach religion
Degrees from khareji madrasas are not valid for government jobs and beyond the government’s purview. Officials say the khareji madrasas have mushroomed in recent times and Basirhat and adjoining areas have no less than about 600 of them. Run by Muslim organisations and funded privately, they impart religious studies and lessons in Arabic.
Studying in such madrasas does not improve one’s chances in the job market and future options are limited. Students can hope to teach in similar madrasas when they grow up or may aim to be employed as clerics. Yet, they are a big hit among the poorer sections since annual fees is as