Madrasas should be banned, since they preach antinationalism; BJP urges CM

On Saturday, BJP legislator MP Renukacharya courted controversy by calling on Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to ban madrasas in the state on the grounds that they preach ‘anti-national lessons’. ‘I request the CM and Education Minister to ban madrasas. Don’t we have other schools where Hindu and Christian students study? You teach anti-national lessons here. They should be banned or made to teach the syllabus taught in other schools,’ Renukacharya said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

According to the BJP state legislator, who also serves as the chief minister’s political secretary, Congress is fabricating the hijab row to play vote-bank politics. The legislator also questioned the necessity of madrasas. ‘I want to ask Congress who created the hijab issue, you or us? Which is more important to you, the vote bank or the vote? I ask Congress, why do we need madrasas? What do madrasas propagate? They instigate innocent kids. Tomorrow, they will go against our country and never say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’,’ ANI quoted Renukacharya as saying.

He also criticized calls for a statewide bandh to protest the Karnataka High Court’s ruling on the hijab row, accusing the organizations that called it of being ‘anti-national’. There has been a call for a bandh in Karnataka by some anti-national organizations. ‘Can the government allow this to happen? Is this Pakistan, Bangladesh, or an Islamic country? Won’t tolerate this. Congress leaders defended this on the floor of the House,’ he said.

Following the hijab row, the political discourse in Karnataka has been highly polarized. Muslim girl students who complained about the right to wear hijabs in classrooms were denied their petitions by the state’s high court on March 15. The bench noted that the hijab ‘is not an essential element of the Islamic faith’.

Renukacharya is facing accusations that he obtained fake caste certificates for his two children and misused government benefits. An Opposition leader has requested that a criminal case be registered against Renukacharya. Renukacharya has emphatically denied the allegations, claiming that he neither procured any fake caste certificate nor took advantage of any benefit meant for the Scheduled Caste community.