In a major development in the Uttar Pradesh government’s efforts to track foreign funding of madrasas in the state, the CM Yogi Adityanath-led government has formed a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT). The SIT headed by Additional Director General, UP ATS Mohit Agarwal will investigate the funds received by the madrasas in the state from sources in foreign countries.
It is worth noting that in Uttar Pradesh, there are over 25,000 madrasas, with roughly 16,500 of which are recognised by the UP Board of Madrasa Education.
According to Uttar Pradesh ATS ADG Mohit Agarwal, the SIT during its investigation will be reviewing the accounts of madrasas that receive funds from abroad. Furthermore, the SIT will analyse how the money collected through foreign funding is utilised. The three-member SIT will investigate if foreign funds received by state madrasas are being used for illegal activities such as terrorism, conversion and so on.
It is worth recalling that in February this year, the state government had initiated an exercise to track the source of money that is reaching over 1,500 unrecognised madrasas in the Indo-Nepal border areas. In October last year, it was revealed in a state government survey that there are over 7,500 unrecognised madrasas in the state. The Uttar Pradesh government had on September 1 last year announced that it would survey unrecognised madarsas of the state to ascertain information such as details of teachers and students, curriculum, and its affiliation with any non-government organisation.
Last year, OpIndia published a series of detailed ground reports regarding the mushrooming of mazars and other illegal religious structures along the sensitive Indo-Nepal border.
