The Uttarakhand Waqf Board has said that madrasas under it will teach the story and values of Hindu deity Ram to students, The Indian Express reported on Monday.

The move is said to be a part of a drive to modernise madrasas and introduce the syllabus of the National Council of Educational Research and Training in the institutions.

Uttarakhand Waqf Board chairperson Shadab Shams said the change will first be implemented in one madrasa each in Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital in March and later extended to other institutions.

There are 415 madrasas in Uttarakhand, of which 117 are under the state Waqf Board, according to Dainik Jagran.

“The way the entire country is celebrating the consecration of Shri Ram in Ayodhya, we thought we should teach Shri Ram in the four modern madrasas we are starting from the March session,” Shams, a former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson in the state, said. “There is even a quote attributed to [poet and philosopher] Allama Iqbal in which he refers to Lord Ram as Imam-e-Hind [Leader of India].”

The state Waqf Board chief added: “Indian Muslims should follow Ram because we are not Arabs. We are converted Muslims who changed our way of worship but we cannot change our ancestors.”

Last year, Shams had said that students madrasas under the state Waqf Board will be able to study both Sanskrit and Arabic along with English.

He had said that at these institutions, religious education will be imparted from 6.30 am to 7.30 am, following which general classes for all subjects will take place.