October 29, 2013: The Bangladesh government has put a bill aimed at regulating Islamic
education in thousands of madrasas (Qu'ranic schools) on hold after Muslim conservatives
threatened a "civil war" against it. On Monday, the Ministry of Education withdrew
the Qawmi Madrasa Education Authority Bill from the agenda of a cabinet meeting where
it was scheduled to be rubber stamped before being tabled in parliament.
The
intended law addressed the funding and regulation of more than 15,000 Qawmi or non-government
madrasas nationwide. A 16-member committee comprising top Islamic clerics and government
officials, would oversee the modernization of Islamic education and its integration
into the mainstream education system.
However, Islamic clerics, mainly from
the hardline Hefazat-e-Islam (Protectors of Islam) group, strongly opposed the move.
“We won’t abide by such a law,” Hefazat chief Shah Ahmed Shafi told reporters on Sunday
in Chittagong, the country’s second largest city.
Education Minister Nurul
Islam Nahid said on Monday that the bill’s withdrawal is only temporary. “We decided
not to present the bill to the cabinet just now. Further discussions and assessments
are necessary before it goes to cabinet and parliament,” he said.