Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Saturday criticised the madarsas in the state for their refusal to put up a portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inside their premises, asking them to give up their "conservatism" on the issue.
"Installing the prime minister's portrait in all government institutions and those being run on government grants has been an established practice. The madarsas should give up their conservatism on the issue," he told reporters here.
"Madarsas are also educational institutions. They should not have any objection to installing a portrait of the prime minister. They should view the issue from the Indian point of view," Rawat added.
The madarsas in the BJP-ruled state have refused to comply with a state government order, asking the state-run educational institutions to install a portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on their premises, on religious grounds.
"The madarsas in the state have not installed pictures of the prime minister because of religious beliefs as Islam prohibits installation of pictures of living beings inside mosques and madarsas," Deputy Registrar of Uttarakhand Madarsa Board Akhlaq Ahmad had told PTI yesterday.
However, he had also said that the refusal to install the picture of the prime minister inside the madarsas should not be interpreted as their opposition to an individual.
"They are not opposed to any individual in particular. It is purely due to religious beliefs. Islam does not permit us to install pictures of living things or individuals, including those of religious leaders, inside the mosques or madarsas," Ahmad had said.
The order was issued to all the government-run educational institutions soon after the Independence Day last year, asking them to install a portrait of Modi inside their premises and take a pledge to implement his vision of building a new India by 2022.
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