Long time coming

EVER since the Indian government was first spooked about the security situation in Nepal following the 1999 Indian Airlines airliner hijack, its pressure on Nepal government to reform its madrassa (traditional Muslim schools) started to increase. New Delhi feared that Muslim extremists might use madrassas to spread the message of hate and revenge, which could eventually result in another hijacking or incidents that undermine Indian interests in the region. It was partly owing to this pressure that the Department of Education in 2002 made the registration of all madrassas with it compulsory. But as of now, of the estimated 4,000 madrassas in Nepal, only a fourth are registered.



It would be wrong to hold unrelenting Indian pressure as the government’s only motive to regulate madrassas. In fact, the madrassas in Nepal do need serious reform. Most madrassas are underfunded and often run from dingy quarters that are unsafe for children. The course of studies is what can only be called ‘ancient’, primarily centered on the teaching of the Holy Quran. Now that Nepal is a secular country, all religions, including Islam, have equal right to spread their messages to the broader populace, as should be the case in a functioning democracy. But the importance of giving budding Muslims basic knowledge in fields like English, Mathematics and Science, all vital for career development in today’s globalized workplace, cannot be overlooked either.



There is no hard evidence any of the madrassas in Nepal has been involved in activities that are not in the interest of our close allies. The pressure from Indian government was more a precautionary measure than an indictment of the flaws of Nepal’s security apparatus. The Indians fear is that madrassas might be used to indoctrinate young minds with extremist ideologies. That is a legitimate concern. Some madrassas in tribal areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan are turning out to be fertile grounds for Muslim extremists of all stripes, even as the two countries struggle to come to terms with growing sectarian tensions.



It is important that all madrassas in Nepal be brought under the purview of government so as to ensure a degree of standard across the broad. Also, a framework has to be worked out whereby those who have passed out form madrassas can be brought into mainstream academia. For instance, the informal education of the madrassas can be used as a measuring stick for entry into religious studies at the university level.



It is thus in broader interest of Nepal to bring the madrassas under government purview and to come up with a madrassa curriculum more in tunes with the times. Again, these vital measures should not be used as an excuse to repress Muslims and curtail any of their basic rights in any way whatsoever. But it is also hard to deny that a through revision and standardization of madrassas curriculum is long overdue.

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