New Delhi: Students pursuing Kamil (graduate-level) and Fazil (postgraduate-level) courses in Uttar Pradesh madrassas are now exploring new academic options after the Supreme Court struck down the UP Madrassa Education Board’s authority to award these degrees, ruling that only universities regulated under the UGC Act can confer them. At the time of the verdict on November 5 last year, around 32,000 students were enrolled in Kamil and Fazil programmes across the state.
For many, the judgement has disrupted academic plans.
Saqlain Raza, a Fazil first-year student at Madarsa Jamia Farooquia, Varanasi, has cleared his first-year exam but is now preparing to seek admission at Kashi Vidyapeeth for a BA degree, followed by MA.
“My Aalim qualification makes me eligible for BA, but the years spent studying Kamil and Fazil may go waste,” he said.
A similar concern was echoed by Ghulam Masih, a Kamil first-year student from Madarsa Darul Uloom Faiz-ur-Rasool, Siddharthnagar, who is also preparing to shift to BA and MA courses. He hopes for relief, noting a pending petition seeking affiliation of madrassa students with Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University.
However, many feel their academic future is uncertain.
Mohammad Saad Nizami, who wrote the Fazil first-year exam at Madarsa Taleemuddin, Mau, said he has already lost one-and-a-half years. “If no solution comes, I may have to quit studies and work,” he said.
The state government says it is working on an alternative.
Minister of State for Minority Welfare Danish Azad Ansari said legal options are being examined and assured that teachers employed in aided madrassas with Kamil or Fazil degrees will not be affected.
Meanwhile, the Teachers’ Association Madaris-e-Arabia Uttar Pradesh has moved the Supreme Court seeking to affiliate madrassa students with Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University to regularise exams and degrees. On May 30, the court sought responses from the state government, UGC, and UP Madrassa Board.
However, BJP Minority Morcha state president Kunwar Basit Ali opposed mid-session affiliation, stating madrassa syllabi do not match university standards. “If affiliation happens, students should be admitted afresh,” he said, adding he will raise the matter with the minority welfare minister.
The madrassa teachers’ body, however, argued that most students come from economically weak backgrounds and cannot afford private university fees. A senior official at the language university said no comment could be made while the matter is under court consideration.