A team of officials from the Lucknow district administration conducted a survey at the famous Muslim seminary, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, in the capital on Thursday. The visit is in line with the orders of the State government to conduct surveys of all madrasas in Uttar Pradesh.
The team collected information as per the 12-point proforma, which requires information from the madrasas about the names and details of the organisations running a seminary, number of students, the source of funding, the year of establishment, course curriculum offered in these institutions and facilities provided/available in the madrasas, among other details.
Established in 1898, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama is one of the oldest Islamic seminaries in India and is said to be one of the few institutes in South Asia that teaches the Islamic sciences completely in Arabic.
Mohammad Rabey Hasani Nadwi, the president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), one of the leading bodies of Muslims in India, is also the chancellor of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama. Recently, the AIMPLB had questioned the government on the survey alleging that it was taking arbitrary and unconstitutional action on the madrasas.
The State government has maintained that the survey is being conducted in accordance with the stipulations of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and to check if basic facilities were being provided to those studying in these Islamic seminaries.
Since the decision of the government to conduct the survey, all the major Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has accused the ruling dispensation of terrorising the Muslim community with such acts. Instead, the government should focus on improving the condition of the government- and government-aided madrasas, they said.
