Patna: Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday claimed that Bihar was teeming with “illegal” madrasas and mosques which posed a grave threat to the nation’s internal security.
The BJP leader, who represents the state’s Begusarai Lok Sabha seat, blamed the situation on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad, whose party helms the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Bihar, alleging that both were in a “slumber of appeasement”.
“Bihar seems to be flooded by illegal (avaidh) madrasas and mosques (masjid). The situation is particularly grave in the areas bordering Nepal and Bangladesh”, Singh, the Union Rural Development Minister told reporters.
He said “While the population of Muslims in the state is about 18 per cent, these areas have a higher concentration. Moreover, there is a strong presence of the banned PFI across the state. So the situation poses a grave challenge to the country’s internal security”.
He added, “If things are left unchecked, in 20 years from now, the people of Bihar will face a major threat to their wealth and their faith (dharm aur dhan ko khatra ho sakta hai). And for a situation, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad would be solely responsible”.
He accused Kumar, and Prasad, a former chief minister, of being in a “slumber of appeasement (tushtikaran ki neend)” and asked them to crack down on such illegal seminaries and places of worship “instead of worrying about vote bank politics”.
However, Singh’s statement met with a strong rebuttal from Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) which asked the Union minister to come up with a list of such illegal madrasas if he had the details.
Talking to reporters at the JD(U) office here, chief spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar said “What does the Union minister mean by illegal madrasas? He should realise that madrasas had played an important role in the struggle for Independence”.
The JD(U) leader also said “The Union minister is part of a government that is unfair towards not just madrasas but also Sanskrit Vidyalayas which had come up during the colonial rule to challenge Lord Macaulay’s education system. The Narendra Modi government has scrapped the scholarships being awarded to students of both madrasas and Sanskrit Vidyalayas”.
He added, “We, in Bihar, need not undertake a survey of madrasas on the lines of the Yogi Adityanath in adjoining Uttar Pradesh which gives fewer holidays than we do on festivals like Chhath and Dussehra. BJP leaders should also ask Yogi to recite Mohd Bodh, a revered scripture of the Nath sect to which he claims to belong. This would give the party and its leaders a better understanding of Islam and Muslims”.
