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Govt Release In Madhya Pradesh Says New Syllabus For Madrasas Will Teach Students Loyalty To Their Country

Head of the MP Muslim Vikas Parishad isn't happy.
Ahmad Masood / Reuters

While education in madrassas have always been questioned, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh said in now a new syllabus was being prepared by the Madrasa board so that Muslim students could be taught loyalty to the country.

The Hindustan Times reported the government statement as saying, "A syllabus is being prepared for students: Watan se mohabbat ka Islam dharm me kya mahatva hai (What is the importance of loving your country in Islam). The syllabus will help students know how much importance the religion they are following has attached to their love and loyalty (Wafadari aur Mohabbaat) to the country."

The syllabus of Madrassas have always been cause of controversy, and this one is also likely to create some dispute between the government and the Madrassa board.

While board chairman Syed Imad was of the opinion that these teachings were already there in the Quran and Hadees, head of the MP Muslim Vikas Parishad Mohd Mahir a bit more wary about the issue.

The newspaper reported him questioning this move and asking why there was a sudden need to include this in the syllabus.

Two years ago, in a similar move the Maharashtra government had said that madrasas not teaching formal subjects would not be recognised as primary schools.

The government had said that madrasas were not schools but sources of religious education.

"If a Hindu or Christian child wants to study in a madrasa, they will not be allowed to study there. Thus, madrasa is not a school but a source of religious education. Thus we have asked them to teach students other subjects as well. Otherwise these madrassa will be considered as non- schools," state minorities affairs minister Eknath Khadse had said.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.