UP: Madrasa Board chairman says he wasn't consulted about probe into foreign funding

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 25 (ANI): The chairman of Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Board, Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, alleged that he wasn't consulted ahead of the SIT probe into alleged foreign funding of madrasas.
He alleged that he was also not consulted before the state government came out with its report of unrecognised madrasas.
The state Madrasa Board chairman alleged further that while he was made a party to the ongoing investigation into the alleged foreign funding of madrasas, the probe reports were being kept away from him.
Javed claimed there was a major furore during the probe against madrasas 11 months ago and politicians and even a section of government officials had objected to bringing the Islamic seminaries under the ambit of the investigation.
"Eleven have passed since the investigation into the functioning of madras was conducted. What happened to the report? Was it presented in the Assembly or brought into the public domain? If not, then who spread the misinformation on foreign funding of madrasas?" Javed alleged.
He said there were a total of 25,000 madrasas in Uttar Pradesh, of which around 16,000 were recognized and 8,949 unrecognized.
Seven and a half lakh children study in the unrecognized madrassas, he informed.
Taking a dig at the Centre, he alleged that while the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has claimed to take care of Pasmanda Muslims, it wasn't bothered about the future of the children studying in these unrecognised madrassas.
"First, the ruling party indulged in cheap politics in the name of investigation into the running of madrasas. Now, there is talk of a probe into madrasas on the Nepal border amid allegations that they are running on foreign funds. A high-level meeting on this will be held in Lucknow and chaired by the ATS (anti-terrorist squad) chief," the state madrasa board chairman alleged.
He said over the last 28 years since 1995, madrasas were separated from the Education department, but now notices have been issued to 12 madrasas in Muzaffarnagar. (ANI)