Will rebuild madrassas if Qaida links not proved: Badruddin Ajmal to Assam govt

GUWAHATI: AIUDF chief and Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal on Thursday asked the Assam government to prove that madrassas in the state are being used by “jihadis” as their bases or else he would rebuild the institutions demolished by the authorities.
Ajmal questioned CM Himanta Biswa Sarma why he called the demolished madrassas as “offices of al-Qaida” when the district authorities said the structures were razed under Disaster Management Act as the buildings were unsafe for students.
“Everything has a limit. When they demolished the first madrassa, the district authorities said that it was razed because the wiring in the building was faulty. Then the state government said another madrassa had violated the Disaster Management Act. If this is so, why did he (Sarma) say that it was an al-Qaida office? What is the real reason for demolition,” Ajmal asked.
He further said, “No one wants al-Qaida in Assam. The government demolished a 36 years old madrassa (in Bongaigaon district) and we are not going to leave this issue. If the government cannot prove that this madrassa was used by jihadis as a base, in the next five to six months, we will build the madrasa …I will re-build the madrassa.”
Ajmal alleged that the government misled the people that the madrassa in Goalpara district was demolished by locals. “The video footage shows that bulldozers were used and even after that the government said the madrassa was razed by the people,” Ajmal said. On Wednesday, Sarma hailed the Muslims of the state as “patriots” after villagers belonging to the minority community pulled down a madrassa for its alleged links with alQaida the previous day.
Sarma had earlier said the government will continue to take the “strongest possible action” if madrassas are found to be used for “anti-India activities” following Ajmal’s appeal to him to spare the institutions from bulldozers. Ajmal had said that madrassas are public properties and using bulldozers to demolish them was a culture in UP and not in Assam