Mumbra residents protest madrasas decision; burn CM's effigy

Thane, July 4: Scores of locals from Mumbra, a Muslim pocket here, burnt effigies of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to protest against the state government's decision to de-recognise madrasas which impart only religious education.

Members of the minority community in Amrut Nagar staged a protest against the government's decision yesterday even as district local guardian minister Eknath Shinde appealed to them to cooperate with the authorities in the survey to identify 'out of school' students, which is being done today.

NCP leader and MLA from Kalwa-Mumbra, Jitendra Awhad also joined the protest and alleged that the decision has been taken by the BJP-led government under the influence of RSS.

There are around 1,990 madrasas in Maharashtra in which around 2.50 lakh students are enrolled and due to the decision, these institutions will be losing their status and benefits, Ahwad said.

He alleged it is nothing but an attempt by the state and Central governments to keep the minority community students out of the mainstream and create differences.

The state government's move to treat as "non-schools" those madrasas which do not teach primary subjects such as English, Math and Science and the students in such institutes as "out of school", has sparked widespread protests.

In view of the opposition, Union Minister of State for Minorities Affair Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had yesterday said the government would consider including these Islamic-learning centres in the mainstream educational system under the Right to Education Act.

PTI