Guwahati: During an election campaign in Nagaon, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) founder and president Badruddin Ajmal issued a challenge to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. He declared his intention to establish 700 new madrasas if his party wins the general election.

“After the Lok Sabha elections, along with AIUDF MPs from Karimganj and Nagaon in Assam, we will open 700 new madrasas. Himanta Biswa Sarma listen, write in your diary, Badruddin Ajmal is coming to the parliament. 700 madrasas we three brothers will open,” announced Ajmal during the rally.

Ajmal also criticized Congress leader Pradyut Bordoloi during the rally, labeling him a liar. He claimed that despite offering jobs, none of the Muslims present at Bordoloi's rally had accepted the positions. Ajmal questioned Bordoloi's achievements for the Muslim community in the last five years.

“Even Modi or Himanta Biswa Sarma is unable to give jobs, and you (Pradyut Bordoloi) have given jobs, but none of the Muslims has said they got a job in any of my rallies, and asked him what he has done for Muslims for the last 5 years,” said Ajmal.

Conversion of Madrasas into Regular Schools:

On 13th December 2023, Assam’s Department of School Education announced the conversion of 1281 Madrasa Education (ME) institutions in the state into regular schools. The conversion process is under the supervision of the Board of Secondary Education Assam (SEBA), which is responsible for turning provincialized and government madrasas into traditional classrooms.

“Consequent to the conversion of all Govt and Provincialised Madrasa into general schools under SEBA, the Department of School Education in Assam has changed the names of 1281 ME Madrasas into ME Schools by a notification today. Here is the link for the list of schools,” Education Minister of Assam, Ranoj Pegu, shared on social media along with the list of affected institutes.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on the first day of the new year (2024), announced the state government's efforts to negotiate the closure of private madrasas and their conversion into regular schools. This development came after the government shut down state-run madrasas and turned them into regular schools.

Sarma stated, “Private madrasas are protected by the constitutions of India as it is written that the government cannot touch minority-run educational institutes. They don’t even fall under the RTE (Right to Education) Act. But having said that, the Assam police and education department are working together so we can reduce at least 1000 private madrasas. From three thousand, it will come down to two thousand, and we are negotiating this with the private madrasa bodies.”

He also announced, “There are five distinct communities who are known as Assamese Muslim communities, we have approved the census and we are verifying the villages where the Assamese Muslim communities live, also wards in municipal areas where Assamese Muslims live are being earmarked and by the end of 2024, we will complete this census.”

The Chief Minister of Assam emphasized that his administration would have conducted a new census of Muslims in Assam by the end of the year.

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