Guwahati: A day after a Madrasa was bulldozed allegedly for having links with a terror outfit, and the arrest of a Madrasa teacher on suspicion of being close to a ‘jihadi’ organisation, the Bongaigaon district administration of has clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPc in the mixed populated western Assam district.
Opposition All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which opposed the demolition of the Madrasa, has threatened to move the Supreme Court against the bulldozing.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also said that “strongest action” would be taken if the Madrasas found with Jihadi activities.
Bongaigaon District Magistrate Nabadeep Pathak quoting the Superintendent of Police, Bongaigaon in a notification said that due to prevailing situation in some parts of the district after apprehending of anti-national activists, there is every likelihood of breach of public peace and tranquility in the district.
“Information has also been received that due to activities of fundamentalist organisations, an altercation may occur that may lead to public breach of peace such incidents may endanger public order leading to breach of public peace,” the notification said.
Assam Chief Minister on Thursday said that the government do not have intention to demolish Madrasa, and “our only intention is to see Madrasas are not used for Jihadi activity or for expanding Jihadi activity or anti India activity”.
AIUDF supremo and Lok Sabha member Badruddin Ajmal earlier on Thursday urged Chief Minister to stop bulldozing Madrasas.
Ajmal’s request to the Chief Minister came after the Bongaigaon district administration bulldozed Markazul Ma’arif-u-Kariyana Madrasa, a private-run Madrasa, at Kabaitari in the Jogighopa area on Wednesday “in a bid to foil the alleged terror activities”.
“Such actions are a direct attack on the education of children in the minority dominated areas of Assam. Madrasas are public properties and these cannot be demolished without any prior legal notice,” the AIUDF chief told the media.
Accusing the RSS for the plan of bulldozing madrasas, he said: “If any person is arrested for his link with jihadi organisations or any kind of anti-national activities, the government can initiate action against such individual as per the law. Madrasas never teach hatred or communalism and demolishing them is illegal and unethical. Demolishing Madrasa is denying of education of children specifically for Muslim children.”
Earlier on August 26, the police arrested Mufti Hafizur Rahman, who was a teacher at the madrasa since 2018, from the Goalpara district.
The police claimed that Rahman has links with “jihadi” organisation.
Recently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed charge-sheet against eight of the 37 arrested for reported links with fundamentalist organisations. Of the eight, seven are from western Assam’s Barpeta district and one from Tripura.
The Assam government had handed over the cases of “jihadi terror modules” to the NIA after the preliminary investigation.
The Assam Chief Minister recently said that the government is now preparing Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the new Imams who are coming to the state from outside.
