KOLKATA, Feb 4: Thousands of Muslim protesters marched through Kolkata on Monday over plans by the Marxist government of West Bengal state to regulate madressas following the recent attack outside the American cultural centre here.

The leaders of West Bengal’s ruling left-wing coalition, headed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), are due to meet this week to disuss what steps could be taken to strengthen control over madressas.

“There are intelligence reports that suspected Islamic extremists are taking refuge in the madrassas, whose numbers are growing fast in the villages near the border with Bangladesh,” state Minister for Minority Development and Welfare Mohammad Selim said.

The Marxist government in West Bengal has always prided itself on its secular credentials and resisted any policies that could alienate the state’s large Muslim population.

However, India’s current stand against Muslim extremist groups operating out of Pakistan and the Jan 22 attack outside the American centre have forced a more interventionist line.

“Madressas in the Muslim-dominated villages of nine districts along the border have been put under close survelliance. The teaching of terrorism under the cloak of religion in such schools cannot be accepted,” Selim said.

“We have also decided to check the growth of madressas and mosques in villages and scrutinize those that have already been set up.”

There are more than 500 registered madressas in West Bengal, but the president of the state madressa board, Abdus Sattar, acknowledged that the number of schools working without official sanction was unknown.

“We do not have the exact number of unrecognized madressas,” Sattar said, adding that a committee had been set up — headed by a former West Bengal governor — to conduct a count and review the curricula currently in use.

“If any recongnized madrassa is found indulging in anti-national activities, it will be immediately shut down”, Sattar said. “West Bengal will not fund madressas which teach children to fight for Islam.”

Thousands of Muslim protestors marched through the streets of Calcutta on Monday to warn the government against intervening in religious education.

“Let the West Bengal government prove terrorists activities in these madressas, and we will take all necessary action to stop it,” said Syed Asad Madani, president of the powerful Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Hind.

“Otherwise, the government cannot close down our religious schools,” Madani told a rally.

“Religious education is our fundamental right and no one can take it away from us.”—AFP