More than 125 madrassas in the West Bengal-Bangladesh border area have been identified as 'schools of terror' by the state government. "We have recommended that these madrassas be closed down immediately," said a central intelligence agency officer. All the madrassas have been funded by trusts based in the Gulf countries. "These trusts actually fund Islamic terrorism around the world and at least one such trust in Saudi Arabia is known to have strong links with the Al Qaeda. This trust has sponsored a number of madrassas in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri. We have documented evidence on petrodollars routed through Bangladesh and Pakistan to build these madrassas. The names of some of these trusts figure in the lists (prepared by the US) of those funding Islamic terrorism," said the officer. He added that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has also been active through these madrassas.
Things're getting tough all over for madrassahs. The stuff they're filling kids' head with is also not putting Saudi Arabia high on anybody's "most beloved" list. Think how different things would be if the Saudis had funded science and technology schools or teaching hospitals. |