Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday that religious teachers or clerics at mosques and madrasas coming from outside the state will now have to mandatorily register themselves on a government portal and undergo police verification as part of the new rules framed by the BJP government in the state.
“We have made some Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that if any Imam comes to the village, you must have to inform local police for the verification. After being verified by the police, people can hire him as an Imam. The Muslim society of Assam is extending their support to us on this,” Sarma told reporters yesterday.
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However, the new rules will not be applicable to the residents of Assam. “There is no need to register their details for those who are the resident of Assam. But those who come from outside the state will have to register their details in the portal,” the Chief Minister added.
The announcement of the new rules comes just two days after the arrest of two such clerics for terrorist activities. “One of those arrested, who worked as an Imam in a mosque, was the kingpin. He had expanded the Jihadi network in many villages. Six Bangladeshi nationals had entered Assam for expanding the Jihadi network. Out of six Bangladeshi nationals, Assam police have arrested one and five are still absconding. Assam police will continue its operation,” Sarma said.
Sarma had earlier said that Assam had become a hotbed of “jihadi activities”. Five modules with links to Bangladeshi terrorist group Ansarul Islam have been busted in the last five months in the state.
Over 40 people have been arrested since March this year and a strict vigil is being maintained, particularly in the minority-dominated areas of lower and central Assam, a PTI report said, citing officials.
Director General of Police, Assam, Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said that the objective of the new rules is to prevent Anti-India, jihadi elements from using madrasas for their nefarious fundamentalist purposes.
“Going forward, we want to create a master directory of all the madrasas being run in Assam. A tough job, as many of them are unregistered & unauthorised. Our objective – to prevent Anti-India, jihadi elements from utilizing the madrasas for their nefarious fundamentalist purposes,” the Assam top cop said.
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On Monday, the DGP also held a meeting with Maulana Abdul Qadir, Secretary of the Tanzim Council that runs a majority of madrasas in Assam. During the meeting, Qadir handed over the directory of all the madrasas run by Tanzim Council in Assam.