Quite a few madrasas (Islamic schools) in Uttar Pradesh may face action under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) for partly defying the Yogi Adityanath government's order that the tricolour must be unfurled and the national anthem recited on their premises as part of Independence Day celebrations.
The NSA was enacted in 1980 primarily to deal with the country's security, defence and foreign relations. It has provisions to detain citizens on presumption of possible tension alone without any recourse to challenge the detention order.
Many of UP's 16,000 madrasas didn't take the order well that was to "inspire students and help them learn more about the contribution of freedom fighters".
A few madrasas in Western UP's Bareilly and elsewhere in the state did flag hoisting but refused to recite the national anthem — Jana Gana Mana... — on the ground that "Islam does not allow anyone except Allah to be praised". A few Hindu organisations and locals lodged a complaint with Bareilly divisional commissioner PV Jagan Mohan in this regard.
"We have asked complainants to produce evidence. An inquiry has also been initiated and if complaints are found true, NSA would be invoked against madarsa management committees for causing disrespect to the national anthem," he warned. Relevant sections of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, may also be invoked against the erring madrasas, he said.
There was no clarity if this will be a statewide action. The state government has sought legal opinion on whether or not the NSA can be invoked against madrasas who defied its order that had also said that all I-Day events on their premises must be videographed and footage submitted to the UP Madarsa Shiksha Parishad as proof. The Chief Minister has asked divisional commissioners to obtain footage and furnish a list of all erring institutions in UP where nearly a fifth of India's Muslim population lives. The NSA is invoked for preventive arrests to check incidents that might lead to tension.
Qazi of Bareilly, Maulana A Raza Khan, had already announced that reciting the national anthem is "un-Islamic as it contains words which are against the basic tenets of Islam." At Jamiat-ur-Raza, run by the Bareilly Qazi, students participated in flag hoisting and shouted "Hindustan zindabad" but did not recite the national anthem. Instead, they sang "Saare Jahan Se Achha... ", a 20th century patriotic song penned by poet Mohammad Iqbal.
The Abdul Kalam Madrasa in Bareilly also refused to recite the national anthem. "It contains a few un-Islamic words which no devout Muslim would recite. Our divine power is only Allah and we cannot worship or praise anyone except Allah," said madrasa manager Iqbal Beg.
Lawyers said that the police was free to invoke the NSA or any other law against madrasas, but courts would take a final call. Only 600 of the madrasas in UP are government aided.
"The Home Department that controls the police might have taken some initiative on the issue basis which the Bareilly Commissioner has issued such a statement. I personally think that provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, may be invoked in such cases," said a senior police officer
I-Day Diktat
UP govt had said Tricolour must be unfurled and National Anthem recited at all madrasas on I-Day.
Many institutions including those in Bareilly defied the anthem order, saying its recitation is un-Islamic.
CM asks officials to get footage, furnish list of erring institutions. Legal opinion on NSA sought.
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