NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of systematically “communalising education” and dismantling India’s public education system through closures, demolitions, and funding cuts in BJP-ruled states. The party alleged that minorities, Dalits, and tribal communities were being disproportionately targeted and demanded high-level judicial probes into recent incidents.
Addressing a press conference, Congress General Secretary in charge of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Dr Syed Naseer Hussain, along with National Secretary Divvya Maderna, said educational institutions were being turned into tools of political and communal agendas.
The Congress highlighted the demolition of a school in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district, built by local resident Abdul Naim using personal savings of ₹20–22 lakh. According to the party, Naim had purchased land, obtained all required permissions, and aimed to provide education in a tribal area lacking a school. Despite this, the district administration allegedly demolished the building without notice or inquiry. Congress leaders claimed the school was falsely labelled an “illegal madrasa” solely because its founder was Muslim, even though the village reportedly has only three Muslim families. They further alleged that the district collector later admitted to acting under pressure.
“This sends a chilling message that people from certain communities cannot run institutions or serve society,” Dr Hussain said.
The party also criticised the closure of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Sciences in Jammu and Kashmir following protests over the community-wise composition of admitted students. Congress maintained that admissions were conducted transparently through NEET counselling and domicile-based norms, and questioned why infrastructure was deemed inadequate only after admissions were finalised.
Dr Hussain alleged misuse of regulatory bodies, citing funding cuts of ₹68.73 crore for Jamia Millia Islamia and ₹306 crore for Aligarh Muslim University, while Jawaharlal Nehru University saw no increase despite expansion. He also referred to stalled teacher recruitment and school closures.
Additional incidents cited included the alleged poisoning of a school water tank in Karnataka’s Belagavi district to frame a Muslim headmaster, disruption of Christmas celebrations at a school in Assam’s Nalbari, and cancellation of Christmas holidays in Uttar Pradesh schools.
The Congress demanded a high-powered inquiry into the Betul demolition and medical college closure, an end to “bulldozer culture,” reopening of the college, and reconstruction of the demolished school, warning that politicisation of education threatened India’s democratic future.
