Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Friday said that the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to survey unrecognised madrassas in the state was “extremely sad and condemnable”.

The Uttar Pradesh government had announced last week that it will survey unrecognised madrassas to gather information such as the number of teachers, curriculum and other aspects.

The survey will be conducted to ensure that basic facilities for madrassa students match the requirements of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Minority Affairs Danish Azad Ansari said.

Commenting on the announcement, Mayawati said that instead of carrying out such a survey, the authorities should focus on improving the condition of madrassas that run on government grants, as also the state of government-run schools.

“During the days of the Congress, complaints about the Muslim community being exploited, neglected and riot-affected were common,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said. “The Bharatiya Janata Party came to power by carrying out narrow politics in the name of ‘appeasement’. Now it is oppressing and terrorising Muslims, which is extremely sad and condemnable.”

Mayawati alleged that efforts were being made to interfere with the functioning of private madrassas that run on community donations, and said that this was inappropriate.

On September, 7, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind had described the decision as a “malicious attempt to disparage” the madrassa education system.

At a meeting of over 200 madrassa rectors of the state, the Muslim group said it would protect the madrassas at all costs. The Jamiat also launched a helpline for the institutions and formed a committee to deal with challengesd that might arise out of the Adityanath government’s decision.

Last month in Assam, another state ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, authorities demolished three madrassas after the police stepped up its operations against alleged modules of Ansarullah Bangla Team, a banned Bangladesh-based terror outfit said to have links with Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, or AQIS.