NEW DELHI
\nIndia\u2019s top court overturned on Tuesday an order that banned Islamic schools in Uttar Pradesh, effectively permitting over 2 million students in the country\u2019s most populous state to return to their studies in madrasas.
\nIslam is the second-largest religion in Uttar Pradesh, accounting for some 20 percent of its 230 million population.
\nIn March, Uttar Pradesh\u2019s Allahabad High Court scraped a 2004 law governing madrasas in the state, saying it violated India\u2019s constitutional secularism and ordering that students be moved to conventional schools. The Supreme Court put it on hold in April after receiving petitions challenging the order.
\nTuesday\u2019s ruling by the top court will allow about 2.6 million students and 10,000 teachers to return to the 25,000 Muslim religious schools operating in the northern Indian state.
\n\u201cThe Allahabad High Court erred in holding that the madrasa law had to be struck down for violating basic structure, which is the principle of secularism,\u201d Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said in court. \u201cThe constitutional validity of a statute cannot be challenged for violation of the basic structure of the Constitution.\u201d
\nArticle 30 of India\u2019s Constitution guarantees the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.
\n\u201cThe Madrasa Act is consistent with the positive obligation of the state to ensure that students studying in recognized madrasas attain a level of competency which will allow them to effectively participate in society and earn a living.\u201d
\nMadrasas provide a system of education in which students are taught the Qur\u2019an, Islamic history and general subjects like math and science.
\nIn states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party, such as Uttar Pradesh and Assam, authorities have been converting hundreds of madrasas into regular schools.
\n\u201cThis is a landmark judgment and puts a brake to all the negative campaigns that have been going on against madrasas across the country,\u201d Wahidullah Khan, secretary-general of the All-India Teachers Association Madaris Arabia, told Arab News.
\n\u201cFor us, it\u2019s a big relief. It provides a new lease of life to thousands of madrasas across the country. The Islamic schools have been taking care of the basic education of millions of Muslims across the country and we were under lots of pressure because of the communal campaign against Muslims and their educational institutions.\u201d
\nWith over 200 million Indians professing Islam, Hindu-majority India has the world\u2019s largest Muslim-minority population.
\nIndian Muslims have faced increasing discrimination and challenges in the past decade, accompanied by tensions and riots ignited by majoritarian policies of the Hindu right-wing BJP since it rose to power in 2014.
\n\u201cWe were waiting for this kind of verdict. It\u2019s quite welcoming and relieving for the Muslim community,\u201d Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, BJP member and former chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrasa Education, told Arab News.
\n\u201cThe judgment brings relief to all,\u201d he said. \u201cThere has been a systematic attempt to stigmatize the Islamic schools over the years and brand them as vicious, but the ruling of the Supreme Court should now stop this negative campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI India\u2019s top court overturned on Tuesday an order that banned Islamic schools in Uttar Pradesh, effectively permitting over 2 million students in the country\u2019s most populous state to return to their studies in madrasas. Islam is the second-largest religion in Uttar Pradesh, accounting for some 20 percent of its 230 million population. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-441861","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n