The Hindu : Modi for reforming `madrassas'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 14, 2002

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Modi for reforming `madrassas'

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI JUNE 13. High on the agenda of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, is the reforming of `madrassas' (Muslim seminaries) in his State. And he wants the External Affairs Ministry to give him the feedback on the nature of reforms in the `madrassas' of Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan so that they can be emulated in Gujarat.

Although he did not specifically make the link — in fact, he said that he had arrived at no conclusion on why his State remained convulsed by communal violence for so many weeks — the implication of giving priority to the reforming of `madrassas' was clear enough.

The indication was that `madrassas' inculcating the `jehadi' mentality were responsible for the Godhra incident and the communal mayhem that followed. "RDX and AK-47s were recovered from some `madrassas' in Gujarat,'' he said.

But it seems, for the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the top priority in Gujarat remains relief and rehabilitation of the riot victims. And it was on this subject that Mr. Modi held forth at length when he visited Race Course Road along with a team of State officials. The result: Mr. Vajpayee asked him to focus his attention on this and expedite it.

Mr. Modi, who will be in the capital for two days, had a hectic round of meetings with Mr. Vajpayee and the Finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha, in the evening and the Union Home Minister, L. K. Advani, the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, and the Rural Development Minister, Venkaiah Naidu, earlier in the day. Tomorrow he will meet the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, K. C. Pant, to finalise the 2002-2003 annual plan for Gujarat.

Mr. Modi made it clear that his Security Adviser, K. P. S. Gill, "will be there as long as his Government is.'' In short, despite the rumblings against him from some in his own party, Mr. Gill's services are not to be dispensed with.

Gujarat had been inflicted with long bouts of communal violence earlier, for decades the problem had been swept under the carpet, but now the matter needed to be "studied deeply,'' Mr. Modi said. In Parliament, "no good suggestions'' had come through in the long debates on the Gujarat carnage. He would not like to say anything more about the riots for fear of "influencing the Inquiry Commission.''

He claimed that there was no tradition in India of Chief Ministers or accused Ministers resigning when an Inquiry Commission was set up — the Antulay case and the Laloo Yadav case were "different,'' not related to communal violence. As for Sudhakarrao Naik resigning in Maharashtra, that too was "different.''

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