Modi regime seizes 215 Jamaat-e-Islami-linked schools in Kashmir

Monitoring Desk

SRINAGAR: Authorities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir have ordered the government takeover of 215 schools run by Jamaat-e-Islami under the the Falah-i-Aam Trust.

IIOJK School Education Department Secretary Ram Niwas Paswan, citing a directive from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs related to the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, instructed all Deputy Commissioners and District Magistrates across the Kashmir Valley to immediately take control of the schools and constitute new management committees. These institutions, spread over ten districts, have for decades provided students with both Islamic and modern education, significantly contributing to literacy and offering affordable education throughout the territory. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs had banned Jamaat-e-Islami in 2019 under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, with the ban further extended in 2024.

All Parties Hurriyat Conference spokesperson Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas in a statement in Srinagar strongly condemned the takeover, calling it part of the BJP government’s deliberate campaign to target institutions associated with Kashmiri Muslims. He said that while the Indian government employs brutal military force to suppress the Kashmiris’ freedom movement, it is simultaneously carrying out a calculated effort to erase the culture, heritage, and identity of the Kashmiri people. The APHC emphasized that the people of Kashmir remain resolute in resisting such measures and in carrying forward the sacred mission of the martyrs.

Meanwhile, the New Delhi-controlled State Investigation Agency arrested a Kashmiri civilian, Altaf Hussain Wagay, during a raid at his residence in Shopian. Authorities justified the arrest by alleging that he was working for mujahideen and involved in anti-India activities, labels routinely used as a pretext to harass, detain and silence Kashmiris..