Muslim organizations: NCPCR infringed on Constitutional rights

Kozhikode: IUML and Muslim religious organizations termed National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) recommendation to stop state funding for madrasas and disbanding madrassa boards as infringing on the Constitutionally-guaranteed rights, including freedom of religion. IUML national organizing secretary ETM Basheer said the NCPCR move was yet another instance of infringement on minority rights by the Centre and added that it will have far reaching consequences."NCPCR chairman's remarks about madrassas are baseless and aimed at defaming madrassas. Centre has been pursuing the agenda of undermining the rights guaranteed by the Constitution to minorities and the recommendation is an attempt to infringe on those rights," he said. Basheer added that the NCPCR chairman's claim that students from minority communities attending madrasas were excluded from the Right to Education Act was incorrect. "Right to Education is applicable to all and no madrassa is insisting that students studying there should not go to schools," he added.Samastha leader Abdussamad Pookkottur said the recommendation to shut madrassas went against religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution. "To practice religion, one has to study it and for that we need madrassas," he said, adding that the recommendation won't have an impact in Kerala as no madrassa in state got govt funds."Students who passed out of Darul Huda Islamic University have set up 2,675 madrassas in north India by raising funds; 1.3 lakh students are studying there. Also, Samastha Matha Vidhyabhyasa Boards has granted affiliation to 613 madrassas in north India and the move to close down madrassas is a violation of fundamental rights and goes against religious freedom," Pookkottur said.Kerala Muslim Jamaat, led by Sunni leader Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musaliyar, termed the recommendation as blatant violation of Constitutional right for equality and religious freedom.It said that in most states, including Kerala, thousands of madrassas operate entirely independently without govt's financial support. These institutions function as excellent educational centres, contribute to the harmony of the community significantly and uphold moral values.It said that due to historical reasons, Muslim children in educationally-backward regions like north India and northeastern states were following the practice of undergoing primary religious education along with school education for several decades. These centres of harmony also educate children from other communities, which is a matter of pride for our nation."Even Sachar commission recommended improving such institutions. Centre's move to shut these institutions under the cover of NCPCR is provocative and a blatant violation of democratic rights," it said.Indian National League said NCPCR recommendation to shut madrasas was condemnable and a challenge to secular India. "Madrasas have always been a thorn in the eye of RSS. The existence of a community with religious awareness among minorities is what unsettles Hindutva communalists. They have been systematically targeting madrasas in various parts of the country for years," it said.