Govt money can't be used to teach Quran in madarsas: Assam education minister

Assam government's money cannot be used to teach Quran in madarsas, state education minister Himanta Sarma said, adding that presently, the state government is bearing the cost of it.

The minister also said that if the government is spending money on teaching Quran, it should also pay for teaching Bible of and Bhagavad Gita.

"In my opinion, teaching Quran can't happen at the cost of government money, if we have to do so then we should also teach both the Bible and Bhagavad Gita. So, we want to bring uniformity and stop this practice," Sarma said.

The BJP leader further stated that as the Assam government has decided to shut down all madarsas in November, all government-aided madarsas in the state will be converted into regular schools. He added that in some cases, teachers will be transferred to state government schools.

"All State-run madrassas will be converted into regular schools or in certain cases teachers will be transferred to state-run schools and madrassas will be shut down. A notification will be released in November," said Sarma.

Sarma also said that many Muslim boys open their Facebook accounts using Hindu names and then they fool the Hindu girls in getting married to them. These marriages are not authentic but a betrayal, he said.

"Many Muslim boys create Facebook accounts with Hindu names & post pictures of themselves at temples. Once a girl gets married to one such boy, she discovers that he is not from the same religion. This is a not a bona fide marriage but a breach of trust," the minister said, adding that the state government has decided to act tough against any such marriage which has been solemnised on the basis of fraud.

It may be noted that Assam has 614 government-aided recognised madarsas including 57 for girls, three for boys, and 554 co-educational. A total of 17 madarsas teach students in Urdu medium.