Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the state government, why they were financing a religious activity while considering a petition against the former’s decision to provide pension to madrasa teachers in the state.
The court also asked the state to clarify whether it has made any contribution to the Kerala Madrasa Teachers’ Welfare Fund.
On the petition filed by Manoj, secretary of Citizen Organisation for Democracy, Equality, Tranquility and Secularism, a division bench comprising Justice A Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Kauser Edappagath issued the order seeking to quash the Kerala Madrasa Teachers’ Welfare Fund Act, 2019, which is passed for disbursing pension and other benefits to madrasa teachers.
C Rajendran, counsel for the petitioner, said from the reading of the Act, it is quite clear that these madrasas are imparting knowledge only about the Quran and other textbooks pertaining to Islam. He also said that pumping of huge amounts of money for the said purposes is unconstitutional and against the principles of secularism enshrined in the Constitution.
The bench observed madrasas in Kerala are different from those being run in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal which have been imparting secular as well as religious education.
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