Lucknow: The Madrasa Education Board of Uttar Pradesh has announced that starting Friday, all Madrasas in the state would play the national anthem before the commencement of classes. As per information, the government order came after complaints indicating a lack of regularity in national anthems being played at the educational institutions.
The decision was originally taken in a meeting of the Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board back on March 24. A government order to this tune noted that the national anthem has to be sung by teachers and students in all Madrasas (recognized, aided as well as non-aided) across the state starting May 12, when the Ramzan holidays come to an end.
The Registrar of the Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board, SN Pandey, also had issued an order to this effect to all the District Minority Welfare Officers on May 9. Speaking on the new provision, meanwhile, Mufti Asad Kasmi representing the Deobandi Ulema said that the organization had no issue with the order.
Also read: Gyanvapi mosque row: Complete video survey by May 17, rules Varanasi court
"Whenever there is an event, be it January 26 or August 15, the national flag is hoisted and the national anthem is sung. Now, the government has ruled that it should be done daily, so we shall do the same. There is no problem," he noted. Significantly, unlike schools under the state board in Uttar Pradesh, Madrasas had no compulsion to perform the national anthem, up until now.
General Secretary of Teachers' Association Madaris Arabia, Diwan Sahab Zaman Khan, said that till now at madrassas, usually Hamd (praises to Allah) and Salam (salutations to Muhammad) were recited before the start of classes. Minister of State Danish Azad Ansari had also said that the government wants the madrassa students to be "full of patriotism". At present, there are a total of 16,461 madrassas in Uttar Pradesh and 560 of them receive government grants.
With agency inputs
