Two ministers of the Yogi Adityanath government are pulling in different directions on the imposition of a dress code in the government-aided madarsas of Uttar Pradesh.

The issue of a dress code for the students of madrasas assumed centre stage on Tuesday when the minister of state for Haj and Waqf, Mohsin Raza, made a statement that the state government may soon propose a dress code for students of madrasas. He said the new dress will be different from the current one donned by the students, which is kurta and pyjama.

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The more formal dress will help the students realise that they are at par with other students, and will uplift their confidence, he said. The minister added while it was important that both religious and social education be imparted to madrasa students, a formal dress code will help them realise that they are at par with other students.

The minister had also said while the final dress code, its colour and patterns was yet to be finalised, once done a final proposal will be placed before the government. Following clearance from the government it will be implemented in madarsas across the state.

Raza made this statement while he had gone to review the preparations underway for Haj 2018 at the Ali Miyan Nadvi Memorial Haj House in Sarojini Nagar here.

Shortly after Raza’s statement his senior and cabinet minister for minority welfare, Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary, denied that the government had any such proposal or scheme or had taken a decision on the count. In a late night tweet, Chaudhary rejected Raza’s remarks and said ‘the government has not formed any new policy pertaining to the dress code of the madarsas. On this issue there is no view of the department”. (“Madarson mein dress code lekar sarkar ne koi nayi niti nirdharit nahi ki hai.Is Vishay ko lekar vibhag ka koi mat nahi hai”, the tweet read).

The UP Board for Madarsa Education also clarified that there was no proposal for a dress code by the government. Incidentally, madarsa education comes in the purview of minority affairs and has nothing to do with the departments of Haj and Waqf. Mohsin Raza’s statement regarding a dress code for UP madarsas was allegedly seen as an interference in the affairs of the minority welfare department. Raza is the sole Muslim face in the Yodi Adityanath government.