The district-level committees that will take a fresh look into the 4,191 schools will include the local SDM and DMO, a deputy superintendent- or additional SP-rank officer of the ATS and an ATS field unit officer if a district has such a field unit.
Director (minority affairs) J. Reebha, in her 21 October letter to the DMOs, the additional chief secretary (minority welfare and Waqf), and ATS officials, informed that ADG ATS Nilabja Choudhury has given instructions for forming district-level teams for the verification of the maktabs.
“The ADG ATS has directed that a detailed investigation report be submitted to his office by the field unit incharge after a thorough probe/verification. Hence, after establishing coordination with the team constituted, take action as per the directions of the ADG ATS,” reads the letter, which is in possession with ThePrint.
When contacted, a senior officer of the minority welfare department told ThePrint that the district-level investigation, like the SIT probe, will focus on tracing the source of funding of the maktabs.
“It aims to check the funding source of these maktabs, which have received funds from abroad. All DMOs are in the loop about the teams constituted to conduct the investigation. DMOs are the field officers of the minority welfare department — which is why they are in the district-level teams,” he said.
‘SIT report not made public’
The Opposition has called the state’s initiation of a fresh investigation an attempt to whip up communal sentiments ahead of the bypolls to ten assembly seats.
Speaking to ThePrint, Shahnawaz Alam, the All India Congress Committee national secretary for Bihar, who is also handling the charge of the UP Congress’ minority department, said that the idea of the probe first came up when R.P. Gupta was the chief minister of UP.
“At the time, the government said that madrasas were flourishing along the porous border with Nepal and attributed suspicious activities to them. The Muslim society, at that time, demanded the government release a report to prove its claims. When Rajnath Singh became CM, we held a dharna to demand a white paper on such complaints. We said the government should present a report to prove its claims, but it could not,” he said.
“Then, last year, the government said the ATS would probe the funding of madrasas, but the SIT’s report was never released. This is nothing new — what Yogi (Adityanath) is doing. Earlier too, the BJP governments have been doing it. If there is something suspicious in the findings on the madrasas, why is the Enforcement Directorate not involved? Everything is happening due to the upcoming bypolls,” he added.
Months after Yogi Adityanath took over as CM for the second time, the UP government, in August 2022, directed a survey of the unrecognised madrasas by 15 October 2022. The move had attracted widespread criticism from Muslim leaders across the state.
Among the 12 pointers for the survey was the funding source of the madrasas. Then, in January 2023, the government ordered all district magistrates of the UP districts bordering Nepal to investigate the matter. In October 2023, the government formed the SIT, including the ADG ATS, SP (cybercrime) and director (minority welfare), to probe the alleged misuse of foreign donations.
After the probe, the government segregated the maktabs and the madrasas and the then minister of minority affairs, Dharampal Singh, said there were nearly 4,000 maktabs concentrated in the districts along the Nepal border in Bahraich, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj, Balrampur, Shravasti, Sant Kabir Nagar, etc.
While the report of the SIT was not made public, one of its recommendations is closing down 8,449 unrecognised madrasas immediately as the number of schools is not in proportion with the minority population.
The Sashastra Seema Bal, under the home affairs ministry, had reportedly also flagged the high number of madrasas and masjids within 15 km of the Nepal border.
‘From centres of education to centres of probe’
Commenting on the UP government reinitiating its probe into the funding of unrecognised madrasas/maktabs, Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, the UP madrasa shiksha board’s former chairman, who served in the post for three years, told ThePrint that “from centres of education, the madrasas have turned into centres of probe.”
“Over the past nine years, the UP madrasa shiksha board has not granted any fresh recognition to any madrasa. During my three-year tenure, there were eight board meetings, and the issue of granting recognition to interested madrasas came up in each, but to no avail. Nearly 5,000 madrasas wanted recognition three years ago, but the process never started. The number of madrasas wanting recognition has likely increased to 8,000 by now,” he said.
“On one hand, the madrasas desperately want recognition and join the mainstream, but the process gets stalled. On the other hand, they continue to face harassment due to a lack of recognition,” he said.
However, a senior official with the minority affairs department said several madrasas are not eligible to get recognition from the government since they do not meet the required criteria.
“There are criteria, such as the area in which the madrasa building is, the number of classrooms, principal room, staff room, etc. Several madrasas do not fulfil these criteria and hence can not get recognition. Those running on rent can only get temporary recognition,” the official said.
When asked if the government intends to start the grant of recognition to such madrasas, UP minority affairs minister O.P. Rajbhar told ThePrint that the government has no such intentions; it only wants to stop wrongdoing.
“Along the Nepal border, residential buildings and hotel-like structures have come up in the name of education centres. We are probing why outsiders are coming and staying there. Nearly 513 madrasas have given up recognition whereas 700 more such madrasas are ready to,” he said.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
