Priyank Kanoongo, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection Of Child Rights (NCPCR), expressed concerns over the radicalisation in the curriculum of Bihar’s government-funded Madrasas.
He emphasised that the Madrasa is not a place for the basic education of a child as they should study in schools. He categorically noted that Hindu children should not be in Madrasas at all and slammed UNICEF for drafting a radical curriculum for such Madrasas. He added that the Madrasa Board should be dissolved.
Notably, on Sunday, the NCPCR Chairperson shared a post on X to highlight that government-funded Madrasas in Bihar are teaching children from books like Taleem-Ul-Islam that declare non-Muslims as Kafirs. He noted that as per reports, Hindu children are also enrolled in such Madrasas, but the Bihar government didn’t give him official information about the enrollment ratio.
Taking to X, Kanoongo wrote, “In the state of Bihar, Taleem-Ul-Islam and other similar books are being taught in the government-funded Madrasas. In this book, non-believers in Islam are declared as Kafirs. It has been reported that Hindu children are also being admitted in these madrasas but the Bihar government is not giving official information on the number ratio.”
In his post, he has also attached an image showing an excerpt from Taleem-Ul-Islam which declares all non-Muslims as Kafirs and also talks about their ‘fate’ stating that they will never attain salvation and instead will be doomed to eternal punishment.
He also pointed out that he has asked for the transfer of Hindu children from Madrasas to schools. But in response to this, the Bihar Madrasa Board informed him that the curriculum of Madrasas has been prepared by UNICEF India which he described as the height of appeasement by UNICEF and the Madrasa Board.
Slamming UNICEF for the same, he categorically said that it is not the job of UNICEF to create a radical curriculum using funds received from governments in the garb of child protection. He added that misuse of funds in any activities other than for furthering the Right to Education is a direct violation of the Indian Constitution as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Subsequently, he demanded that UN India should investigate this misuse of funds under the monitoring of the parent organisation, the United Nation.
He further stated that a probe is ongoing to analyze the content of the books which are prescribed in the curriculum as most of them are published in Pakistan.
He concluded by saying, “Madrasa is not a place for basic education of children in any form, children should study in school, and Hindu children should not be in Madrasas at all, Madrasa Board should be dissolved.”
