No stranger to controversy, chairman of UP Shia Central Waqf Board Waseem Rizvi once again stirred a controversy by demanding the shutting down of primary-level madarsas across the country in order to check the influence of terror group ISIS on Muslim children. Rizvi shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.
Rizvi, who has supported the demand for Ram temple in Ayodhya and a uniform civil code, said that Muslim children, if they wanted, could take admission in madarsas after completing High School. "It can be seen that children are soft targets for running any mission. At this time, terror outfit ISIS is gradually getting a hold over Muslim populace across the world. If madarsas are not shut down, about half of the country's population will become ISIS supporters in 15 years," Rizvi said in the letter.
Stressing that the support to ISIS was clearly visible in Kashmir, Rizvi claimed that through monetary support to children attending madarsas, they were being alienated from people of other religions in the name of Islamic education. "In rural areas of the country too, primary madarsas in the name of donations are harming the future of our children and promoting fundamentalist thinking. This is damaging both the country and Muslim children," he said.
Rizvi added: "Taking admission in madarsas after schooling will not only help them undergo normal education till High School along with children of different sections and religion, but also deter them from getting influenced by fundamentalist thinking."
The Shia Waqf Board chairperson had previously supported Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya and a mosque 'Masjid-e-Aman' in Lucknow.