Threats forced madrassa chief to drop Sania from course

The chief of Chhattisgarh's madrassas dropped a proposal to introduce a chapter on tennis ace Sania Mirza in books taught in them after he was threatened by the religious orthodoxy, a local newspaper claimed on Thursday.

The Hari Bhoomi said in a report that madrassa board chairperson Adil Hamid Khan's plans to include Sania as a role model in the 285 madrassas in the state were forced to change due to pressure and threats from Muslim organisations. It said that Hamid changed "his statement dramatically".

Khan had said on Tuesday: "We plan to introduce a chapter dedicated to Sania in the 285 madrassas of Chhattisgarh, where over 17,000 kids are enrolled for education in Classes 1 to 8."

He had said the proposal to adopt Sania as a Muslim role model for the state-aided madrassas had to be cleared by an eight-member madrassa policy affairs panel.

However, Khan refused to comment on the issue when contacted on Wednesday.

He had reportedly received calls on his mobile on Wednesday, threatening him with dire consequences if he went ahead with his announcement and immediately informed police.

If the plan had gone through, madrassa students would have started reading a chapter on Sania from next year's academic session beginning July.