Systematic assault on Muslim education to erase their Identity in Modi’s India
Islamabad : Under Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, India’s Muslim community, comprising nearly 200 million people (about 14.2 percent of the population), faces institutional pressures that erode long-standing educational structures.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced that the state’s Madrasa Board will be abolished.
From July 2026, all madrasas in Uttarakhand must adopt the Uttarakhand Education Board curriculum or face closure.
The government said the decision aims to ensure uniform and modern education for all students.
The Chief Minister stated that any madrasa failing to implement the state-prescribed syllabus will be shut down.
Several Hindu religious leaders supported the decision, saying it would help integrate students into the national mainstream and expand their education beyond religious studies.
Some religious leaders also made controversial remarks calling for the closure of madrasas nationwide and restrictions on people of other religions in “Devbhoomi” states.
Muslim community leaders had previously opposed the proposal, calling the abolition of the Madrasa Board unlawful and unnecessary.
Critics argued that reforms could have been implemented through the existing Madrasa Board instead of dissolving it.
Centuries-old madrasas, historically centers of learning and social mobility for impoverished Muslim families excluded from mainstream systems, are increasingly targeted by policy changes, registration drives, and closures.
In Uttarakhand, the state government will abolish the Madrasa Education Board from July 1, 2026, moving minority institutions under a new Uttarakhand State Minority Education Authority and aligning them with the Uttarakhand Education Board, a shift that critics say centralizes control and dilutes religious autonomy.
Authorities have already forcibly closed over 250 unregistered madrasas in Uttarakhand, affecting thousands of students and mirroring broader national trends in which regulatory pressure and enforcement actions reduce alternative schooling options
India has an estimated 24,000+ madrasas educating roughly 1.5–2 million students, many of whom rely on these institutions as the only accessible form of schooling; disruptions therefore have outsized effects on educational access for poor Muslim families.
Modi-era policies have included reductions in targeted funding for minority education, the imposition of uniform curricula, and crackdowns on institutions labeled “unregistered,” measures that critics argue undermine minority educational autonomy.
Broader measures, including anti-conversion laws, expanded surveillance, and high-profile demolitions, interact with educational policies to create an environment of pressure and insecurity for Muslim communities.
