INDORE
: With just two weeks to go for
bypolls
,
Madhya Pradesh
culture minister
Usha Thakur
sparked a controversy on Tuesday by demanding a stop to government aid to
madarsas
, alleging that such institutions are involved in anti-national activities.
Congress accused the minister of deliberately bringing a “communal angle” to the bypolls, and asked the Election Commission to take note of it.
Thakur, the Mhow MLA, made the statement at a press conference in the
BJP’s official ‘war room’ for Indore-Ujjain division, where bypolls are due in seven seats. She has already dubbed the November 3 by-election a “battle between patriots and traitors”.
Calling for a uniform education system, Thakur alleged that religion-based education is promoting
radicalism
and animosity. “As you can see, all the radicals and terrorists have studied in madarsas. Jammu & Kashmir was turned into a terrorist factory. Such madrasas, which can’t link (children) to nationalism and mainstream of society, should be brought into mainstream education for the collective progress of society,” she argued.
Whatever creates problems for nationalism, should be closed in the interest of the nation, she said.
The minister repeated her demand: “Government aid to these institutions (Madrasas) should be discontinued. Waqf Board is a capable organisation and if someone, in a personal capacity, wishes to impart religious teachings, he is free to do so as per the provision of the Constitution.”
She accused the former
Kamal Nath government of proposing a 10% tax on income of temples. “It was no less than ‘Jizya Tax’. Because, the temples’ income should be spent on local management, ‘Sanskarshala’ ‘Annakshetra’ and ‘Sewakshetra’,” the minister said.
Congress protested Thakur’s statements. “BJP is an expert in diverting issues. Since it is losing the contest, it’s trying to introduce a communal agenda in the by-elections and the culture minister’s statement is a part of this plan. The Election Commission should take note of this,” MPCC media coordinator Narendra Saluja said.