Partha hits out at MHA over 'terror hub' remark on madrasas

Kolkata: Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee criticised the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for issuing a statement in the Parliament on Tuesday that a terror outfit based in Bangladesh is using some madrasas in the state as hubs.

Both the ruling party and Opposition protested against the statement of the Centre in the Assembly on Wednesday. Speaking on the issue, Chatterjee said that the Centre has been indulging in divisive politics and it was an attempt to malign the image of Bengal.

"If the Centre attacks a particular community in this manner, it sends a wrong signal to the society. Painting all the people belonging to a particular community with the same brush is uncalled for. It maligns the tradition and heritage of Bengal, which accommodates people irrespective their caste, creed and religion," Chatterjee said in the House.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the Assembly Biman Bandyopadhyay urged the House to submit a proposal to him in this regard. In another development during the day, Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education minister Giasuddin Molla called for a meeting to examine the educational details and backgrounds of madrasas on July 10.

The development takes place a day after the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that some madrasas in the state were preaching religious extremism and helping the terrorist organisations.

According to sources, Molla will hold a meeting with his department officials, which would be more of a review meeting with the heads or representatives of all the madrasas in the state. The minister will reexamine the details of the madrasas, both government and private, as well as those heading them.

He is also likely to check the background of the madrasas and the activities centering them. It may be mentioned here that the MHA, in its reply to a question in the Parliament on Tuesday, said that a terror outfit based in Bangladesh is using some madrasas in Burdwan and Murshidabad districts to radicalise and recruit local youths. The state government was also put on alert. Opposition leader in the Assembly Abdul Mannan said regarding MHA's statement: "We condemn the statement. Many Hindus also study in madrasas. A community has been attacked. The government has given permission to the madrasas in the state. Blaming people belonging to a particular community is condemnable." It may be mentioned here that the Khagragarh blast, which took place in Burdwan in 2014, shook the entire state and the Central agencies found the involvement of Jamaat-ul-Mujahiddeen Bangladesh (JMB) behind the blast.