Campaigning in Karnataka, Assam CM says he will shut all madrasas

Hemanta Biswa Sarma was addressing a large gathering in Karnataka after inaugurating a light and sound show on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Himanta Biswa Sarma
Himanta Biswa Sarma
Written by:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is currently on a visit to Karnataka, has triggered a controversy by announcing his intention to shut down all madrasas in his state. Addressing a gathering at an event in Karnataka ahead of the assembly elections, Sarma argued that the state needed schools, colleges, and universities to produce doctors, engineers, and other professionals to serve the country, rather than madrasas. ''Recently in a TV interview in Delhi, I was asked what my intention was in having shut down 600 madrasas. I said that I have shut 600, but my intention is to shut all madrasas,'' he said.

"I come from Assam, where every day people arrive from Bangladesh. There is a threat to our culture and traditions," said Sarma, as he accused opposition parties, particularly the Congress and Communists, of distorting history and misrepresenting facts. He went on to label the Congress as the "new Mughals," and accused them of having an objection to the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. 

"We have to move forward in this direction, we have to transform our education system; the time has come to rewrite our history in a new way as it was distorted earlier," said Sarma. He also made unsubstantiated remarks about the 17th-century Mughal ruler Aurangazeb allegedly trying to destroy Hinduism, while recalling his contemporary Shivaji's contributions to protect Sanatana Dharma and its traditions.

Sarma insisted that India's history is only that of Shivaji, Durgadas Rathore, and Guru Gobind Singh, and claimed that "Congress and Communists have made the history of Babar, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb as India's history."

With regards to the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the construction of corridors at Kashi, Ujjain, and Kamakhya among others, Sarma claimed that "the Badshahs of Delhi spoke and worked on destroying temples." He compared India's Mughal rulers with the Congress, saying that "earlier, Mughals tried to weaken India, and now Congress is doing it."

Sarma was addressing a large gathering in Karnataka after inaugurating a light and sound show on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com