Assam police on Sunday held a meeting with four minority community organisations to seek their support in putting in place an effective system of monitoring and regularising private madrasas in the state.

The meeting follows the recent arrest of a few madrasa teachers/founders in the state with suspected links with terror groups such as the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).The meeting convened by Assam DGP B.J. Mahanta was held at the police headquarters here and attended, among others, by representatives of the four organisations — Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, Ahle Sunnat Wal Zamat, Nadwatut Tammer and Ahle Hadees.

Private madrasas, numbering over 1,500, are affiliated to one or the other organisation.Mahanta said they have urged the representatives to mandatorily register the madrasas under the societies act, upload the details of the madrasas (from teachers to source of funding to the land on which they have been set up) on a portal the government is designing.

They have also been urged to introduce non-Arabic subjects such as maths and computers.

“The meeting was fruitful. They have sought six months time to streamline things. This is part of our effort to stop anti-national forces trying to enter fringe areas like the char (riverine area). We want the Muslim population to resist such forces. We want the Muslim population to enforce rules framed for madrasas. We have also suggested a few steps over and above the ones they are applying, to put in place an effective system of supervision. There has to be proper monitoring,” the police chief said.

The ongoing police crackdown against terror groups have led to the arrest of nearly 40 persons since March.Three private madrasas have been demolished for allegedly violating government safety rules in August. Some of their teachers have been arrested for suspected links with the terror groups.

All government-aided madrasas, over 600, were converted to regular schools in 2021.AIUDF MLA Karim Uddin Barbhuiya, who was also an invitee to the meeting as a social worker, told The Telegraph that the police had informed the organisations about the arrest of some people from madrasas with link with terror groups and what need to be done to check the trend.

The meeting was to put in place steps to “streamline and regularise” the private madrasas by the organisations themselves because they are members of one organisation or the other, he said.“Now they will have to register the madrasas under them with all details.

They also have to verify the antecedents of outsiders seeking work as madrasa teacher in Assam. Those coming from outside will need to have a police verification certificate from the state of their origin, which again will be verified by the state police and then only a person from outside could be appointed. The organisations have assured to provide all details within six months. It as a very fruitful meeting,” Barbhuiya said.