Ban madrasas as they teach anti-national lessons, Karnataka BJP MLA urges CM

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Mar 26, 2022: Karnataka BJP legislator MP Renukacharya courted controversy on Saturday as he called on Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to ban madrasas in the state on the grounds that they propagate “anti-national lessons”.

 

“I request the CM and Education Minister to ban madrasas. Don’t we have other schools where Hindu and Christian students study? You teach anti-national lessons here. They should be banned or made to teach the syllabus taught in other schools,” Renukacharya said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

 

I want to ask Congress who created hijab issue, you or us? Is vote bank more important to you? I ask Congress, why do we need madrasas? What do madrasas propagate? They instigate innocent kids.Tomorrow they’ll go against our country & never say Bharat Mata ki Jai: MP Renukacharya

— ANI (@ANI) March 26, 2022

The BJP MLA, who also serves as the chief minister’s political secretary, lashed out at the Congress over the hijab row, accusing the party of fabricating the issue and playing vote-bank politics. He also questioned the need for madrasas.

“I want to ask Congress who created the hijab issue, you or us? Is vote bank more important to you? I ask Congress, why do we need madrasas? What do madrasas propagate? They instigate innocent kids. Tomorrow, they will go against our country and never say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’,” ANI quoted Renukacharya as saying.

He also criticised the calls for state-wide bandh to protest the Karnataka High Court’s verdict in the hijab row, slamming the organisations that called the bandh as “anti-national”.

“Some anti-national organisations have called for Karnataka bandh. Can government tolerate this? Is this Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Islamic country? Won’t tolerate this. Congress leaders defended this on floor of the House,” he said.

The political discourse in Karnataka has been highly polarised in the wake of the hijab row. On March 15, the state’s high court dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Muslim girl students seeking the right to wear hijabs in classrooms. In its ruling, the bench noted that hijab “does not make up an essential religious practice in the Islamic faith”.

Meanwhile, Renukacharya is under fire over allegations that he obtained fake caste certificates for his two children and misused government benefits. The Opposition has sought the registration of a criminal case against the BJP MLA.

Renukacharya has staunchly denied the allegations, asserting that he neither procured any fake caste certificate nor availed any benefit meant for the Scheduled Caste community.

Courtesy: India Today