Madrasa run by cleric 'with terror link' razed in Assam

Authorities in Assam's Marigaon district on Thursday demolished a madrasa, run by a cleric who was recently arrested for his alleged links with a Bangladesh-based terror outfit.

The Assam government has also asked people to report to police if the imam (cleric) or teacher of a madrasa in their locality is from outside.

The Jamiul Huda madrasa in the Moirabari area of the district was demolished under the Disaster Management Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Mufti Mustafa, the person who ran the madrasa, was recently arrested for his alleged links with the terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla, an affiliate of Al Qaeda.


Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told a press conference in Guwahati that five modules of terror outfits with links to Ansarul Islam had been busted in Assam in as many months.

The CM said Assam had become a hotbed of "jihadi activities" and called the situation worrisome.

The Popular Front of India is creating a sentiment that Muslims are victimised in the state, he said. "They are not saying the highest beneficiaries of schemes are also Muslims ... From there, large-scale mobilisation begins," he said. While the PFI may not be linked to the Marigaon case, "we have tracked their involvement in older cases such as Gorukhuti," the CM added.

Mufti Mustafa of the Jamiul Huda madrasa has a PHD in Islamic law from Bhopal. He has been accused of trying to indoctrinate the children at the madrasa. All those students have now been sent to general schools. He is also accused of keeping Bangladeshi nationals illegally and was allegedly teaching jihadi literature.

The CM said the state had so far converted 800 government-run madrasas to general schools.