Madrasa diktat: We don't need no thought control

The Maharashtra government’s decision to not recognise madrasas as schools has kicked up a political storm and thrown at us a new opportunity, to debate the state of elementary education and whether religion should play a part in it. Will the government put an end to religious indoctrination of children in school? This goes beyond the madrasas, but I doubt that the Maharashtra government, made up of two overtly Hindu parties, would ever do that. It has just sought to deny grants to schools or non-schools that do not have maths, science and social sciences in the syllabi. While they are at it, they must remember that all madrasas are not the same. The madrasas that teach regular subjects along with religion are formal schools. Not recognising them as such will clearly be a violation of freedom of minority educational institutions.

Institutions that do not follow the basic national curriculum cannot be called schools. The Right to Education Act entitles every child to education. Religious education, too, is a fundamental right, but it is not education. There are over 1.5 lakh children enrolled in nearly 2,000 such seminaries in Maharashtra. The Maharashtra department of school education is conducting a survey on July 4 to identify madrasas that do not teach the essential subjects. The ones that do will be eligible for government grants.

The state needs to be cautious in dealing with this because it is a sensitive issue. The government’s intention is already under suspicion, and any imposition of a convenient interpretation of modern education will be construed as mala fide, and should be opposed. But that’s it.

It’s time to put an end to religious indoctrination masquerading as education. The holy books of all religions put together are no substitute for mathematics and science if we want the dream of education for all to become a reality. The absence of scientific temperament is an obstacle in our progress — economic and social. Once we have the basic education covered, one is free to pursue a career in religious education and mythology.

Politics

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s (AIMIM's) Asaduddin Owaisi has already declared this an act of oppression and violation of minority rights. He forgets that not getting educated is not a right. Mr Owaisi himself went to the Hyderabad Public School, and then moved on to the University of London. So did his brother. His children do not go to a madrasa because he wants them to have a bright future. Every child deserves a shot at that bright future. Once an adult, the child can decide what s/he wants to pursue. Madrasas or such seminaries of any religion are not really centres of excellence.

Pakistani information minister Pervaiz Rasheed once went on record in the National Assembly, calling madrasas “centres of ignorance and illiteracy”. Yes, he said that in the parliament of the world’s first country formed in the name of Islam. In fact, madrasas are a big problem in Pakistan. Some do more than just teach, and not in a good way. In India, we do not have the kind of madrasas our neighbour struggles with. Our madrasas, of different sects, are engaged mainly in religious education. Most pupils come from the weakest sections of our society. The ones that focus on religion do a service to the faith, but a disservice to society at large. Children who could benefit from the Right to Education Act, but do not. When they come out of these schools, they are hardly prepared to compete with regular students. This is true of not all but most madrasas.

Courage

Can the government rid the schools of religious education of all forms? Because the regular, approved curriculum is infected with religion, beginning with the idea of respect for religion. If the Maharashtra government is fair, it will remove study material with overt and covert religious tones. That begins with cleansing the curriculum of all religious figures and ideas. Children can learn mythology from their grandparents at home. It will also involve putting an end to pujas and aartis in government schools. Christian, Islamic, Hindu and similar educational institutions can continue to teach religion as an additional subject and in a more secular fashion. If we dream of a nation with an enhanced scientific temperament, the ideal thing would be to keep religion out of our schools. But that will require an amendment to the Constitution.

Education

Religion makes schools communal, not secular. But that’s a travesty we have learnt to live with, since we allow religion to interfere in all spheres of life. The supposed personal connection with the almighty is all too public. And that is okay if you are an adult. Children learn a lot of fairy tales in school, but as long as things begin with Once Upon a Time, they know these are fairy tales. With religion, that cannot be said. We blur the difference between mythology and the real world very early in a child’s life. The indoctrination is so early that they learn not to question. They never get to find the answer. They learn to differentiate between the good and the bad, based on what religion has prescribed. Religion becomes more precious than humanity. Hence, protecting the precious is more important than anything else. This idea that an idea is above questioning is easy to exploit and becomes a handy tool in the hands of political interests. And we wonder why our social fabric is wearing out.

If you poison the minds of your children, what do you expect them to be when they grow up? The nation needs to grow up.