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NEW DELHI: (AMN) In a latest revelation that could create another tremor in the Muslim community, particularly those associated with the madarsas in the country, the United States wants American teachers to impart education in madarsas across India.
A proposal to this effect has been sent by Washington to the Ministry of External Affairs recently. Without seeking the opinion of Muslims in the country, the MEA has reportedly sought the opinion of the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry in this regard.
According to a report appeared in the Indian Express, the US wants American teachers to impart English lessons in Indian madarsas. Paper quoting highly placed sources says the proposal, which comes about a month after US President Barack Obama’s visit to India, was under examination and would undergo scrutiny of the security agencies.
This is the first such proposal from any foreign country. There are about 7,000 registered madarsas across India, which have over 3.5 lakh students.
The US proposal is reported to have its origins in the visit of Rashad Hussain, US Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).
The son of Indian migrants, Hussain made a nine-day trip to India this August during which he visited universities and colleges in Aligarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Patna.
With India having the second largest Muslim population in the world, engagement with the country’s Muslims figures high on the US agenda.