Security agencies are working overtime these days along the Indo-Nepal border, the reason being the growth of large number of Madrassas that have come up in a disproportionate way and are not proportional to the Muslim population in the area.
Some of the Madrassas or Islamic seminaries are believed to be the safe houses for the militant groups, who were trying to set up the bases in the Himalayan kingdom and operate from there, says a top security official said.
"Setting up of Madrassas is nothing wrong. But what is worrying us is the Madrassas are not proportionate to the Muslim population in the area," he said.
On the Indian side the Islamic seminaries have come up in Uttar Pradesh's Basti, Siddharth Nagar and Balrampur districts while in Nepal, the Madrassas are concentrated on Jhanda Nagar and Barhi-Krishna Nagar areas.
"It is a known fact that ISI has a good base in Nepal and we suspect that many of the Madrassas have been abetted and assisted by the agency to spread their nefarious design in India," the official said.
UP and Uttarakhand share a 863 km border with Nepal. Unlike clearly demarcated Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir, the situation along the Indo-Nepal border is different where the border is porous. Besides, there is conventional movement of people from both sides of the border as Nepal and India share good relations and friendship.
"We maintain vigil on the movement of people along the border. But full-proof vigil is not possible due to the nature of the border," he said.
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