The Assam government recently announced that all state-run madrasas and Sanskrit schools would be closed down. "The government-run madrasas in Assam would either be converted into regular schools or they would be closed down. Teachers would be transferred to general schools after issuance of a government notification next month," state Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said last week.
And while there has been debate and discussion over the discussion, it would seem that people in other states too are keen to follow in Assam's footsteps. In Madhya Pradesh for example, state Minister Usha Thakur on Tuesday opined that government support to madrasas should come to an end in the country.
Alleging that madrasas were responsible for turning Jammu and Kashmir into a terror factory, she told the media that common education for children of all religions was the way to go.
"All terrorists are raised in madrasas, they had turned Jammu and Kashmir into a terror factory. Madrasas which can't comply with nationalism, they should be merged with the existing education system to ensure complete progress of the society," the BJP MLA from Indore said.
"Assam has shown this with success, the institutions which are creating hurdles in the way of nationalism will have to be shut down in the national interest," she added.
And while the idea of an unified education is not a new one, Thakur's comments have Twitter rather divided. Even as some users rushed to defend or support the BJP leader, others contended that terror or violence was not exclusive to any particular religion.
There has not been much by way of reactions from political or administrative leaders.
