The Jammu and Kashmir government has taken over 58 private schools reportedly affiliated with the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, further tightening the noose around the party despite conciliatory gestures by its leadership.
The officials claim the schools were run by the Falah-e-Aam trust, seen as an educational wing of Jamaat. The group has in the past denied affiliation with the trust.
The fresh takeover has come nearly eight months after the Jammu and Kashmir government took control of 215 Jamaat-affiliated schools.
A government order from Jammu and Kashmir’s education secretary issued on Friday said the intelligence agencies had identified 58 more such functional schools, which were found to be directly or indirectly affiliated with the proscribed Jamat–e-Islami/Falah-e-Aam Trust (FAT).
The order said the validity of the managing committee of these 58 schools had expired or had been adversely reported by intelligence agencies.
The order has been issued by the education department overseen by chief minister Omar Abdullah. It has asked deputy commissioners concerned to take over the management of these schools and propose fresh managing committees after getting them duly verified.
“The district magistrate/deputy commissioner concerned, on taking over these schools, shall take appropriate steps in consultation and in coordination with the school education department to ensure that the academic career of the students enrolled in these schools is not affected in any manner,” the order read.
Following the order, the authorities on Saturday took over the control of these schools. Of the 58 schools, Baramulla district accounts for the highest number with 29 such institutions, followed by Pulwama (7), Kulgam (5), Kupwara (5), Anantnag (4), Budgam (4) and Bandipora (2). Srinagar and Shopian have one school each.
The home ministry had through notifications dated February 28, 2019, and February 27, 2024, declared Jamaat-e-Islami an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.