Kolkata: In West Bengal, the new BJP-led government has started resorting to the traditional minority card to divert public attention from public issues, economic challenges, and its administrative failures. According to political analysts, under this very policy of pleasing the majority community by continuously targeting the minority society and gaining votes by seeing Muslims harassed, the unrecognized madrasas of the state are now being targeted.
In this regard, the Department of Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education has hastily formed an 18-member committee to review the unrecognized madrasas operating in 12 districts of the state. This committee will begin visiting the districts from July 15 and will submit its detailed report within just a few days, i.e., by July 21. The objective of such a large-scale survey in such a short period appears solely to create an atmosphere of fear and panic among the minorities and to fabricate justifications for disciplinary actions.
The districts specifically targeted for this action include Cooch Behar, Uttar Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum, West Medinipur, East Medinipur, Nadia, Hooghly, Howrah, North 24 Parganas, and South 24 Parganas. These are areas where there is a substantial Muslim population, and the government wants to intensify political polarization in these regions.
Ploy to divert attention from real issues
Government sources state that this action is being taken following preliminary reports received from District Magistrates (DMs), which were requested in the first week of June and sent to the state secretariat 'Nabanna' by July 5. In these reports, information regarding the establishment date of the madrasas, registration, number of students and teachers, and curriculum was sought.
Political observers believe that the government has no real performance to show the public. Therefore, it wants to raise the issue of madrasas to give the impression to the majority community that it is taking strict measures against minorities, so that voters forget original issues like employment, inflation, and infrastructure, and align themselves in favor of the BJP.
It is worth recalling that immediately after taking power in May, the BJP government's Minister for Minority Affairs, Khadiram Tudu, expressed his aggressive intentions and announced that these madrasas would be closed and those associated with them would be punished. Now, under the guise of this 18-member committee's report, preparations are being made to push forward this very anti-Muslim agenda, so that minority institutions can be shut down in the name of educational reform for political gains.
