Centre urges Buddhadeb to check madrasas

Author: Our Political Bureau
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: March 6, 2003
 
Having secured West Bengal government's active support for the Centre's drive against illegal immigration from Bangladesh, deputy Prime Minister LK Advani sought to strengthen this cooperation by asking chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to tighten implementation of existing state laws to check the unprecedented growth of madrasas in border districts of the state. At a breakfast meeting between Mr Advani and Mr Bhattacharjee this morning, the latter agreed with the Centre's assessment that madrasas were mushrooming along the' Bangladesh border.

According to intelligence inputs, many of these madrasas were being misused for indoctrinating fundamentalism and carrying out ISI-sponsored anti-India activities.

Pointing out that West Bengal was one of the few border states to have a law in place to regulate religious places, Mr Advani stressed the need for proper implementation of the law to check the mushrooming of madrasas in the border districts. The issue of illegal immigration and ways to counter it also came up for discussion at the 45-minute meeting. Mr Bhattacharjee wanted to know about Mr Advani's discussions with Bangladesh foreign minister Morshed Khan during the latter's visit last month. The deputy PM is said to have shared details of his meeting with Mr Khan, especially the hard talk on the issue of illegal immigration. Mr Advani was briefed by the chief minister on the steps being taken by his government to deal with illegal immigration and ISI-backed terrorists from Bangladesh carrying out anti-India activities.
 

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