Gujarat madrasa refuses admission to Kashmiri students

Bharuch, Sep 29 (UNI) After the recent arrest of two of its students, suspected to be Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants, a madrasa in Kanthariya village of this district has decided not to give admission to students from Kashmir.

The Darul Uloom of Kanthariya took this decision after several of its students in the recent past were picked up by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) for alleged links with terror networks.

Abdul Haq, a Trustee of the madrassa, said that at the last meeting of their board, it was decided to draw up strict guidelines for students from outside the state, especially for those coming from the border areas.

''This time, we have kept a special verification form for the students coming from other states and after the verification, we will give them admission,'' he said.

He also said, ''Right now, we have 70 students from Kashmir and have refused to keep them for next year.'' Apart from the recent arrests of its two former students -- Ilyas Memon and Siraj Ansari, Gujarat ATS had picked four students of the Darul Uloom for questioning.

Two more Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including one from Kolhapur in Maharashtra, who had studied in the Kantharia-based madrasa, were gunned down by the Army during a search operation on May 30 at Tral in Pulwama district of Kashmir.

A police team from Kolhapur had questioned maulvis at Kantharia Darul Uloom and the institution's principal to learn more about Hafiz Mohammad Irfan, who was killed in the encounter.

During the interrogation, it was disclosed that Irfan was studying Arabic in the institution and was in his second-year when he discontinued the course and left on his own.

Police had earlier held Irfan's four roommates- includes Mustufa Kashmiri, Zubair Karnataki, Rafik Kashmiri and Yasin Pagutharia-for questioning.

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