Easy, madarsas tell Centre

Maulana Anzar Shah Masoodi Kashmiri of Deoband said a national board for madarsas would be a bad idea. He cited the example of the state board of madarsas set up in Bihar, which, according to him, has not been able to achieve much. ‘‘The funds are not reaching the madarsas. The money is going elsewhere.’’

Maulana Masoodi wanted the government to talk to as many madarsas as possible and elicit their views. ‘‘If there is a demand for national board for madarsas from the grassroots level, then it makes sense. An imposition of a board from above without consulting a majority of madarsas in the country would not make sense.’’

Asked what if Deoband was given a major responsibility in such a board and requested to formulate a policy for madarsa management, Maulana Masoodi was non-committal. ‘‘It could be considered,’’ he said.

Similar were the views of Maulana Saeedul Rehman Azmi Nadvi, principal of the Lucknow-based Darul Uloom Nadwatul Uloom. He also said there was no need for a national board. There was already a non-governmental Arabic-Persian board which had some control over the madarsas. ‘‘Wherever the government is running a board for madarsas, the board is doing badly,’’ he argued.

Earlier, inaugurating the convention, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had hinted that he envisaged a greater role for madarsas. Without mentioning the madarsas by name, he said: ‘‘Community-based educational institutions can be effectively used as a means to promote other important social objectives such as primary health care and family welfare. These institutions can also be used to promote the delivery of better services by the state to segments of the population that are harder to reach such as women and girl children among the minorities.’’

Quoting from the CMP, he said: ‘‘We will also establish a national commission to enhance the welfare of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities, including through reservations and employment.’’ The PM repeatedly praised Arjun Singh for mature handling of his Ministry.

The convention witnessed some bitter exchanges too. Apart from the differences over how much should be allotted to each speaker, a bit of drama was injected by Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Professor Nasim Ahmad who argued that in minority institutions there need not be any reservation for Dalits and tribals. His logic: the Muslims were now too backward and SCs/STs have moved much ahead.

The vociferous protest was led by poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar. He told Professor Ahmad who was then on the dais, ‘‘If such are your views, you should hang your head in shame.’’ Quite a few others echoed Akhtar.