Uttarakhand government sealed over 50 ‘illegal’ Madrasas in past two weeks

Uttarakhand government seals 52 Madrasas, sparking criticism from Muslim organizations for alleged misuse of power.

The Uttarakhand government has sealed 52 Madrasas in the State in a span of two weeks. The crackdown on the religious educational institutions of the minority community is being criticized by the Muslim organisations who have termed the sealing as blatant misuse of power.

According to the sources in the State government, around 42 Madrasas were sealed in the State capital, Dehradun since March 1 while 10 of them were sealed in Udham Singh Nagar’s Khatima, which is neighbouring Nepal.

Sharing reason for sealing these educational institutions, the government officials said that almost all of them found to have illegal and un-aurthorized construction.

“Some of the institutions also found to have no registration,” the official said adding that the identification drive against the minority institutions started in January this year on the orders of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

The CM, on several occasions, maintained that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lead government has taken a resolution to take action against illegal construction and encroachment.

“Sahi ko cherdenge nahi or galat ko chordenge nahi,” (we will not touch those who are right but will not leave the wrong doers), the CM has said in a media interaction.

He added that the concerned authorities have been asked to look into the source of funding of these institutions.