Bengal order on madrasas is disturbing

The BJP’s victory in West Bengal, a milestone in the party’s journey, came after a bitter campaign. In the aftermath of the victory lies the victor’s challenge: To not let the rhetoric of the campaign shrink the agenda and vision of governance, and to send a message that the government will address and respond to all the people of the state, those who voted for it, and also those who did not. In this context, the Suvendu Adhikari government’s decision to make it mandatory for madrasa students to sing ‘Vande Mataram’ during morning Assembly prayers is a disturbing let-down. It sends out a disquieting signal — that the new government is more focussed on bulldozing a polarising agenda rather than addressing the many pressing economic, social and governance challenges it has inherited.

There is little doubt that West Bengal’s madrasas and the state’s education system as a whole require urgent reform. Over the decades, several attempts have been made in this regard, including aligning curricula in recognised madrasas with the state board. Yet, the issue of the poor quality of education in unaided khariji madrasas and narrower pipelines to higher education for madrasa students remains. Forcing students to sing ‘Vande Mataram’ distracts attention from the real problem, and in a diverse democracy, creates a new one. School education — whether in minority institutions, private bodies or state-run facilities — must not become a site for a forced performative nationalism. Students and their families must not be compelled to endorse, for the sake of accessing their right to education, symbols and signifiers that may go against their religious beliefs. In Bijoe Emmanuel v. State of Kerala (1986), the Supreme Court held that forcing students belonging to the minority community to sing even the national anthem is a violation of their right to freedom of speech, expression, and religion.

The ‘Vande Mataram’ order comes on the heels of the government scrapping state assistance schemes based on religious classification, including scholarships for minority students. These decisions may be part of the Adhikari government’s attempt to counter what it calls the “appeasement” policies of its predecessor. There may be a case to be made that the Trinamool Congress government, like many others across the country, relied too often on tokenism over substantive reforms for minorities. But the forced recitation of a controversial song is the wrong answer. It does not strengthen Bengal’s education system or prepare its young for a job market undergoing epochal transitions. The Adhikari government needs to take all the people along; it must step back from a path that will only lead to exclusion and alienation.