We are living in a digital era, and the biggest evil of this era is Fake News. People with vested interest plant such fake news in social media, to create an environment of enmity among people, and sometimes to tarnish the image of the Government, any institution, or Corporation.
In this article, we will perform a Fact-Check for such fake news, which doing the rounds for the last couple of days. A WhatsApp forward message is being spread for the last few days, which claims that Modi Government has launched a ‘new’ scheme to induct Madarsa students into the Army.
This message carries a screenshot of what appears to be the headline of a news report, although it is not clear if this is correct or not. Although, once this news was broken, people have started criticizing the Government for this act, and they are accusing Modi Government of doing appeasement politics.
People are calling PM Modi a ‘Maulana’ and accusing him of helping Muslims to conduct the Ghazwa-e-Hind while blind Hindus keep voting for him. This message asks people to stop Modi from taking their ride and tweet about this injustice on social media to spread awareness.
In this article, we will perform a fact check analysis for this news and try to provide the correct information to our audience. Will will prove if PM Modi is indeed a ‘Maulana’ as alleged by few people, or it is a case of misinformation and propaganda.
Fact-Check
The news was initially published by Dainik Jagran and Times Of India newspapers. This news says that Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Board had decided to apply for membership of the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE).
The news stated that the Uttar Pradesh government is going to give a big gift to students studying in about 17,000 madrasas in the state, which comes under the Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Shiksha Parishad (UP Madarsa Board). This will be a big boon for the madrasa board students, as now they will be able to join various services including the Indian Army. At the same time, they will now be able to get admission to higher educational institutions abroad as well.
As the Madarsa Board currently doesn’t have the necessary accreditation, but once they get the accreditation, the students will be able to apply for government, Army, and Paramilitary jobs.
In view of this, the Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Education Council in its board meeting has decided to seek recognition from the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE). The Registrar of the Board, R P Singh has completed the application formalities for recognition from The COBSE. He has also sent the application along with details of Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Shiksha Parishad Act, 2004, Service Rules, 2016. With this step, the importance of the madrasa board certificate will be further enhanced, which will certainly help the students.
What is COBSE?
It is an autonomous body under the Government of India. It is established under Article 19(1)G, 29 & 30. Hon’ble Supreme Court (in T.M.A. Pai Foundation Vs. State of Karnataka (SC) 2003 (2) SCT 385.) also has given the right for establishment.”
Several education boards have been registered under this such as State Madrassa Education Board in Assam, Aligarh Muslim University, Assam Sanskrit Board, Bihar School Education Board. Currently, it has 67 Boards among its members.
Modi-Madarsa Board connection…is there any?
People are so agitated and calling PM Modi a ‘Maulana’, and accusing him of inducting Muslims into Indian Army via the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education, but they don’t know that this organization comes under the minority department of the UP Government, not the Central Government. Also, it was the Uttar Pradesh Government under CM Yogi Adityanath, which has decided to register with COBSE.
Here it is also important to know that several state Madarsa boards are already registered with and recognized by COBSE. So, we can’t blame the UP government for this, as it is not the first such board in India, which has decided to register with COBSE. Also, most importantly, this is not a new scheme launched for Muslims as claimed in the news and the social media messages.
Was it only about the Indian Army Job?
Well, this is not sure why media houses reported this news and portrayed it as if Center Government is increasing job opportunities or quota for Madarsa students. Also, they have targeted the Central Government, which has no direct role in this matter.
It is quite evident that this was a piece of fake news, which has been spread to create an environment of enmity among the people and to specifically provoke the supporters of the government. They also bring the Indian Army angle here to create mistrust in the people, and this is certainly not the first time and not the last time. Media houses have orchestrated several controversies in the name of the Indian Army, Farmers, Caste issues, and several other stuff.
