Haridwar (Uttarakhand) [India], March 25 : The district administration in Haridwar sealed five unregistered madrasas on Tuesday as part of an ongoing drive to enforce regulatory compliance. With this, the total number of madrasas shut down has risen to 12.
Tehsildar Priyanka Rani confirmed the action and said, "Five madrasas have been sealed...The team inspected the madrasas, and those that were not registered have been sealed. The Minority Welfare Department has issued a notice saying that the madrasas should be registered as per the law, and only after that will the madrasas be opened...Till now the administration has sealed a total of 12 madrasas..."
Earlier, Sub Divisional Magistrate Ajayveer Singh told ANI that two madrasas in the Gandhi Khata area were sealed on Thursday.
"Two madrasas have been sealed in Gandi Khata of Shyampur police station area... Uttarakhand Chief Minister has ordered us to take action against illegal madrasas and illegal constructions," the Sub Divisional Magistrate said.
The official said the orders were given on Thursday and they are in the process of inspecting multiple madrasas and will take action accordingly. The official said, "As we get to know more we will investigate, Uttarakhand CM has ordered us to take action against illegal madrasas and illegal constructions."
Earlier on March 16, a statement from the CM's office mentioned that 43 allegedly illegal madrasas were sealed in Dehradun.
"Chief Minister Dhami has already made it clear that tampering with the culture, tradition and geography of Uttarakhand will not be tolerated under any circumstances. He has given a free hand to the administration to take strict action against anyone who carries out illegal activities under the guise of religion," the statement read.
The Dehradun administration has launched a large-scale campaign and sealed 31 illegal madrasas in Vikasnagar, 9 in Sadar and 3 in Doiwala.
"Intelligence reports have also revealed that the Muslim population in the Pachhadun region has increased at an abnormal pace, due to which there was a fear of a conspiracy of demographic change," the statement added.
According to the government, the officials took a "decisive step" and bulldozed the alleged illegal encroachments and gave a clear message that "no illegal activity will be allowed to flourish in Uttarakhand."
"This strict action of the Dhami government is being described as a necessary step to protect the cultural and geographical identity of Uttarakhand," the statement read.
According to the government, a "network" of illegal madrasas were present in Pachhadun area and others, claiming that there were attempts to create a population imbalance.