The future of Muslim students is at stake after India’s Modi government canceled the Maulana Azad Fellowship for university students.
According to foreign media, the Maulana Azad Fellowship was introduced in 2009 in the light of the recommendations of the Sachar Committee established during the regime of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which is for the minority Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, and Jains of India. , was provided to students belonging to Parsi and Sikh religions. This fellowship has been canceled by Modi’s bigoted government.
Although this fellowship was available to students from all minority communities, it benefited mostly Muslim students. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, more than 70 percent of the students who received this fellowship in 2018-2019 were Muslims.
According to Fawad Shaheen, national secretary of Students Islamic Organization of India, the student organization of Jamaat-e-Islami in India, “Thousands of underprivileged Muslim students who would otherwise have been unable to pursue higher education have benefited from this fellowship over the years. Lived.
In this regard, Minister for Minority Affairs Smriti Irani, in response to a question in Parliament last month, said that the Maulana Azad National Fellowship “is similar to many other fellowship schemes run by the government for higher education and minority students.” is already receiving support from several such schemes.
The reason given by the government behind the cancellation of this grant is that the fellowship is similar to other schemes being questioned.
According to Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, students who qualify for the fellowship before March 31, 2022 will continue to benefit from this scheme for the rest of their academic term, however, the sudden decision to end this grant has sparked outrage among Indian Muslims. Matched.
After this decision of the Modi government, many student organizations are protesting across the country. Many political leaders are raising this issue in the parliament and demanding the government to withdraw this decision. Speaking to the local media, Member of Parliament Imran Partab Garhi termed the government’s decision against the minority and students and said that it will affect thousands of people.