Mulayam has a go at RSS schools

LUCKNOW: After Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh, UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has decided to vent his spleen against the Saraswati Shishu Mandir chain of schools run by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

“Those who call Muslim madrasas dens of the ISI should first conduct an inquiry as to what is happening in the Saraswati Shishu Mandirs,” Mulayam Singh said speaking at a function organised by renowned Shia Maulana Kalbe Sadiq on Thursday. Mulayam was given the Begum Hazrat Mahal ‘samman’ in the presence of  prominent Muslim clerics.

“Madarson mein deen aur dharma ki shiksha di jaati hai aur Saraswati shishu mandiron mein nafrat aur sampradayikta ki,” Mulayam said. (Madrasas teach religion while the Saraswati shishu mandirs teach communal hatred.) He said that these ‘mandirs’ were no temples, and were only “strengthening communal forces”.

Arjun Singh had recently said he was mulling action against the Saraswati shishu mandirs. Mulayam also said the chain of RSS-run schools should be subjected to a thorough inquiry.

Mocking at the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for the minorities, and terming it a farce, Mulayam said: “My government has done concrete work for the minorities.” He said that for the first time, madrasas were given government grants in UP.