By Sanjiv Acharya
After having announced sweeping reforms in higher education, Kapil Sibal is now ready with a challenging New Year resolution: That of creating a Central Madrasa Board (CMB) to bring about uniformity in the curriculum taught at madrasas.
But Sibal is up against vested interests who don’t want the “state” to interfere in its “personal” affairs. This has not deterred the Union Minister for Human Resources and Development. He seems to have done his homework well before taking such a step.
The National Commission for Minority Education Institutions (NCMEI) has for long been trying to
win the confidence of the Muslim community to set up a Central Madrasa Board on the lines of the CBSE or ICSE. In a confidence building gesture, Justice MSA Siddiqui, chairman of the NCMEI, has assured more
than once that affiliation to the proposed CMB will, however, be voluntary.
He also stated that it would be set up through an act of Parliament and will be free from state control. Despite these assurances, Justice Siddiqui has been facing stiff resistance from the ulemas. When the minister tried to convince all concerned, including Muslim members of Parliament, he found it hard to evolve a consensus as many MPs were opposed to it. They see it as a instrument of government interference in the internal affairs of madrasas. “We want the government to leave the madrasas alone,” announced Kamal Farooqui, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board member. In the same vein, Maulana Marghubur Rehman Qasmi, vice chancellor of the Deoband madrasa, also declared the CMB to be “antithesis to the soul of madrasas.” He appealed to all madrasas not to be entrapped in this state noose.
But the buzz in the HRD ministry is loud and clear: Kapil Sibal is in no mood to leave the issue unresolved. After having discussed the matter with many progressive Muslims, he found them to be in favor of the Central Madarsa Board, barring a few of course. His staff has also been monitoring the Urdu media to gather public perception of such a move.
And apparently there seems to have been a shift in the position of ulemas regarding their opposition to the CMB. Earlier they were all opposed to it but now a number of ulemas have gradually started coming around. They seem to see the merit in having a centralised board which will regulate the curriculum of all madrasas and also result in universities recognising it.
A senior aide to the minister claims that a majority of Muslims have expressed their positive response through letters to the editor in two prominent Urdu newspapers. He says in the first half of the New Year, the ministry will re-launch a campaign to garner support on this issue. Seminars and lectures will be organised in different parts of the country on the gound that – “Those who have reservations about the setting up of the CMB, should give a thought to the fact that in a number of states, madrasa boards already exist for years. The madrasas affiliated to them, have never faced even a semblance of action aimed at interfering in their internal affairs on the part of their respective boards.” At present, it will be difficult to find two madrasas offering the same syllabus. On the contrary, the CMB will pave the way for a uniform curriculum, making it easy for government universities to recognize the degrees of the madrasas.
Moreover, it will also reduce the dominance of the elite in the administration of the madrasas. There are instances where, despite being funded by public donations, hereditary seems to be the basis of inheriting administrative control of some of the big madrasas. The CMB will definitely not be welcomed by them. But Sibal is in no mood to relent.