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Season of communal controversy: Can BJP escape the blame?

One after another reports of Departmentally Related Standing Committee on Education, 2020-2021 has put BJP and its allies in no less trouble ahead of the assembly pols.  

Headed by AGP MLA from Lakhimpur, Utpal Dutta, the committee recommended the government to provincialize the Madrassa schools. That too  at a time when education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been publicly advocating the closure of the Madrassa schools from November.

The committee 2021 submitted in the assembly on March 24, 2020 suggesting the government to provincialize the Arabic Colleges, Senior Madrassas, Pre Madrassas, Title Madrassa schools to accelerate literacy rate in the minority dominated areas.

Sarma said that  that as of now altogether 610 Madrassa schools have been running across the state. According to him, proposals are pending to provincialize 300 such Madrassa schools.

The Departmentally Related Standing Committee on Education, 2020-2021 strongly recommended recruitment of Arabi teachers in the secondary and higher secondary schools.

Meanwhile, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the government was not bound to implement the recommendations. But these reports suggesting provincialization of Madrassa schools would confuse the people since the committee comprises 10 members from the ruling coalition.

It assumed significance after the Miya controversy where Congress MLA Sherman Ali demanded a Miya Museum at the Sankardev Kalakhetra to showcase the culture of the river bank areas. Ali referred to the report of the  Departmentally Related Standing Committee on Education, 2020-2021 where 6 MLAs were from BJP, 2 each from AGP, BPF and AIUDF 3 from Congress    

 

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