BJP government steps up crackdown on madrasas in north Indian state
Uttarakhand authorities are sealing Muslim seminaries under new education rules after abolishing state’s Madrasa Board and closing hundreds of institutions
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A Hindu nationalist government in northern India has intensified a crackdown on Muslim religious schools, sealing more madrasas as part of a wider campaign that has already forced the closure of hundreds of institutions across Uttarakhand state.
Authorities sealed two privately run madrasas in the Muslim-majority Banbhoolpura neighborhood of Haldwani after officials said their operators failed to produce documents showing recognition under a new education system introduced by the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government.
The closures are the latest phase of a campaign ordered by Hindu hardliner Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, whose government has spent the past two years scrutinizing madrasas it describes as “illegal” or “unrecognized.” More than 200 such institutions were sealed during an earlier crackdown in 2025.
The government has since gone further by dismantling the separate system under which Muslim seminaries had operated.
In July, Uttarakhand became the first Indian state to abolish its statutory Madrasa Education Board, replacing it with a Minority Education Authority responsible for regulating institutions run by Muslims and five other officially recognized religious minorities.
Under the new system, madrasas must obtain recognition from the authority and follow the state education board curriculum alongside religious instruction. Institutions failing to meet the requirements can be closed.
The changes have left privately managed madrasas that traditionally teach Urdu, Arabic, Persian and Islamic studies facing greater government oversight and uncertainty over whether they will be permitted to continue operating.
The latest statewide enforcement drive could affect more than 250 madrasas that have yet to obtain mandatory recognition under the new system, according to local reports.
Several madrasas have been sealed in recent days in Udham Singh Nagar and other districts. Some operators have disputed the government’s characterization of their institutions as unauthorized, saying applications for recognition remain pending with authorities.
The BJP government presents the overhaul as an attempt to modernize education, improve academic standards and subject minority institutions to greater accountability.
Analysts, however, view the madrasa campaign within a broader pattern of policies targeting Muslims under Dhami, a hardline Hindu nationalist leader who has repeatedly used Islamophobic terms such as “land jihad,” “love jihad” and “thook jihad” while promoting government drives involving Muslim religious institutions, properties and businesses.
The crackdown has also faced legal challenges from madrasa operators who argue that closing religious educational institutions infringes constitutionally protected minority rights.
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