Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said he intends to shut all madrasas in his state, saying they are not needed in “New India”. Sarma’s comments, made at an event in Karnataka’s Belagavi on Thursday night, drew criticism from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and the Congress that said the remarks go against the “spirit of the Constitution”. “I come from Assam, where everyday people arrive from Bangladesh,” Sarma said in an address to a large gathering after inaugurating a light and sound show on Chhatrapati Shivaji. “There is a threat to our culture and traditions. I have also shut down 600 madrasas, but my intention is to shut down all madrasas. It was said how can you say such a thing? I replied I can say such a thing because we don’t need madrasas, we need doctors and engineers. Schools, colleges and universities are our need.” Targeting Opposition parties, Sarma accused the Congress and Communists of distorting history and misrepresenting facts. He also labelled the Congress “new Mughals”. “There is no need for madrasas in this ‘New India’,” said the Assam CM, adding, “We have to move forward in this direction, we have to transform our education system; time has come to rewrite our history in a new way as it was distorted earlier.” Pointing out that several people in India claim with pride that they are Muslims or Christians, the Assam CM said, “I have no objections, but we want people who will with pride say, ‘I’m a Hindu. Till today India is Sanatani and Hindu, and until the sun and moon exist India will go forward on the basis of its traditions.” Congress MP from Barpeta in Assam, Abdul Khaleque, said Sarma’s remarks were against Constitution. “His decision to close down government madrasas was a wrong one. It actually gave a boost to radicalism because there was government control over the curriculum. Now, saying that he will close all madrasas goes against the spirit of the Constitution. The government can regulate these institutions and monitor them to ensure that there are no anti-national activities but can’t close them all down.” Khaleque said Sarma’s agenda was to find ways to “win over the fundamentalists and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)”. AIUDF general secretary Aminul Islam said, “Himanta Biswa Sarma is trying to show himself as a hardline Hindu leader all over India so he talks about madrasas, passes a cow protection Bill . he is trying to gain the favour of the RSS since he just joined the BJP a few years ago and had long been a Congressman before this, and the BJP favours hardline Hindu leaders such as Modi and Yogi Adityanath. It’s also cheap publicity to become famous nationally.” Last month, Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said more than 100 small madrasas in the state had been merged with larger ones. He claimed it was done to address “radical teaching” in the state. The police said they were working with private madrasa boards in the state to identify madrasas with fewer than 50 students and merge these with larger ones. Madrasa board officials told The Indian Express they were conducting “surveys” to submit data on this to the police. Sarma’s ‘New India’ Sarma, meanwhile, on Thursday alleged “Communist historians” tried to make it appear that Mughal ruler Aurangazeb ruled with “complete” India under his control even though all of south India and the Northeast were never a part of his empire. “We will have to rewrite that history in a new way. We will have to say that Shivaji Maharaj was stronger than Aurangazeb. Such history has to be written by Indians,” he said at the Belagavi event. Sarma insisted that India's history is only that of Shivaji, Durgadas Rathore and Guru Gobind Singh and claimed that "Congress and Communists have made the history of Babar, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb as India's history”. Speaking about the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the construction of corridors in Kashi, Ujjain, and Kamakhya among others, Sarma claimed that “the Badshahs of Delhi spoke and worked on destroying temples”. “But in the time of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, constructions of temples are happening," he added. "This is new India.” He went on to compare India's Mughal rulers with Congress. "Earlier, Mughals tried to weaken India, and now Congress is doing it. Congress people are today's new Mughals … they have an objection to Ram Mandir. Are you (Congress) children of Mughals? Why do you speak in favour of Babri Masjid and not for Ram Mandir? They represent new Mughals.” With PTI inputs
