Another private madrasa was destroyed on Wednesday as part of the Assam government’s ongoing campaign against Madrasas in the BJP-ruled state.
The district administration claimed that the Madrasa- Markazul Maarif Quariyana Madrassa, was linked to Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Bangladesh-based Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).
The authorities on Tuesday evacuated nearly 224 students from the building. The structure was demolished hours after police conducted a search of the premises along with a person, who was arrested on charges of being part of the “jihadi network” in Assam.
However, activists claim it to be part of the larger conspiracy of the BJP-led state government to demolish Muslim establishments. “Be it houses, shops , mosques or madarssas, this nefarious hindutva trajectory must be stopped,” research scholar Aasif Mujtaba tweeted.
This was the third Madrasa demolished this month by the Assam government alleging similar charges.
On Monday, a private madrasa in the Barpeta district was demolished on Monday while another such structure was razed down in Morigaon on August 4.
Police have arrested more than 37 persons including a Bangladesh national for allegedly running modules of the ABT.
At present, Assam does not have any government-run madrassas as they all have been converted into regular schools recently.
However, individual or privately-run madrassas still exist.