India’s Assam Minister Says Gov’t Money Should Not Be Spent for Teaching Quran
Himanta Biswa Sarma said if the government is bearing the cost of teaching the Quran in madrassas (religious schools), then it should also pay for the teaching of Bible 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 senior BJP leader added that all government-aided madrassas in Assam will be converted into regular schools as the state government has decided to shut down all madrassas in November.
He said in certain cases teachers will be transferred to state government schools, Zee News reported.
"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."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is accused of encouraging religious intolerance and seeking to transform India into a Hindu state.
Critics say the new law in India is a grave threat to its secular constitution.
Modi's ruling BJP party has denied it has any bias against India's more than 180 million Muslims.
