Qawmi madrasa scholars demand opening madrasas

Claiming that the students of the Qawmi madrasas are not involved in any political or anarchical activities in the country, the leaders of the Qawmi Madrasa Conservation Council demanded opening the Qawmi madrasas and stopping the harassment of the madrasa authorities by various organisations.

They came up with these demands in a meeting held at the Tejgaon Railway Jamia Islamia Madrasa in the capital yesterday. More than a hundred leaders and members of the council from all over the country took part in the meeting. 

To convey their demands to the authorities concerned, they formed a delegation team, Tahaffuz-e Madaris-e Qawmia Bangladesh, with the top Qawmi madrasa scholars. 

"All of us are being blamed for the imprudent speeches of a vested quarter, which made those statements for their personal gains," said Mohammad Yeahea Mahmud, joint-convener of the delegation.  

Convener of the delegation Shayekh Dr Mustak Ahmed said following the Covid-19 attack, the government stopped everything including the Qawmi Madrasa. 

"During the previous lockdown, we could convince the government to allow us to keep the madrasas open, but this time we failed as currently the situation became complicated due to some issues," said added.

"However, the government should consider the fact that stopping the activities of the madrasas means stopping salary of their employees," said Mustak, adding that, "Besides, hundreds of orphans live in the institutions and they have no place to go if the hostels are closed. Closing the madrasas means stopping their meals."

Tejgaon Railway Jamia Islamia Madrasa Director Mojibur Rahman said, "Madrasas are closed in such a time when we raise funds for our institutions. A small delegation went to the government with our demands but those were not accepted.

"So we feel a need for a bigger number of people to present our demands more strongly," he said, adding that, "If we fail to take any steps, the existence of madrasas will be threatened."