The Question is... Did 40% of Madrasas in UP’s Shravasti Deserve to Be Demolished or Sealed?
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Last month, bulldozers rolled through four districts in Uttar Pradesh, carrying out a wave of demolitions. Their target? Madrasas.
At least 20 were torn down, and another 110 were sealed, in Shravasti alone which saw the most incidents of action against madrasas. On the fateful day in May, the district authorities “pasted a notice on the wall, took photos, and then demolished the madrasas with bulldozers,” managers and teachers from the targeted madrasas alleged to me—emphasising that they were given “no prior notice.”
So, the question is… why were the mandatory 15-day notices not served to the madrasas deemed ‘illegal’? And, more importantly, were the madrasas even illegal?
40% Madrasas in Shravasti Shut: Sealed Despite Papers, Razed Without Notice?
When I first heard about the demolitions, my priority was to obtain documents to investigate whether the madrasas targeted were in fact illegal. As I sourced the papers, it became clear that some madrasas that had been sealed were in fact legal.
Some officials, who carried out the demolitions, even acknowledged the legitimacy of some madrasas to their owners—but sealed them regardless, stating that “the order had been passed from the top”.
There’s another aspect that became clear as I dug deeper and talked to the madrasa owners and administrators—their ordeal to obtain permanent status for the madrasas.
A notice from the District Minority Welfare Officer purportedly informed one madrasa that it was being run after “obtaining temporary recognition.” In UP, it is necessary to renew the status of any temporary madrasa after five years—which, if not done, prohibits the madrasa from carrying out any educational activity.
Samiullah Khan, president of the UP Madrasa Modernisation Teachers' Association, told me that the rule for madrasas to obtain permanent status to run legally was made in 2016. However, he alleged that the registration portal has not been functional since then, making it nearly impossible for the administrations to procure the permanent status. He further claimed that “the applications submitted to the District Minority Welfare Officer for conversion from temporary to permanent have been lying in Lucknow”.
For this extensive report, I spoke to more than 10 madrasa administrators and teachers, examined their documents, and interviewed Shravasti District Magistrate who claimed “only the unrecognised madrasas” had been targeted.
Read the story for more details.
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