Bihar madrasa bans admission to girls

A government-affiliated madrasa in Bihar has banned admission for girls as there is no separate sitting arrangement for them and co-education is against the Islamic tenets, officials said Tuesday.

Madrasa Azizia in Bihar Sharief, district headquarters of Nalanda, about 100 km from here, has issued a diktat that girls will not be enrolled and those already enrolled will not be allowed into the premises.

"A decision has been taken as co-education is against the religion. Boys and girls cannot study together and male teachers should not lecture the girl students in our madrasa," S.M. Ashraf, secretary of Madrasa Azizia, said.

"We will appoint women teachers for girl students and make separate sitting arrangement for them. It would take a few months," he said. Madrasa Azizia is run by Soghra Wakf Estate Committee. It is one of the hundreds of madrasas affiliated by the state government and its students get free bicycles, uniforms, books and other schemes.

However, the committee president, who happens to be Nalanda District Magistrate B. Kartikya, said he had no information about the incident. "We will inquire into it," he said.