Journal of Discourse Review
Open Access Humanitarian Scholarship
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Time to first decision
Open Access Humanitarian Scholarship
Time to first decision
Volume: 1 Issue: 3
Year: 2025, Page: 272-280,
Received: Oct. 12, 2025 Accepted: Nov. 15, 2025 Published: Dec. 31, 2025
Madrasa education has long been a site of contestation in the subcontinent. This disagreement comes from broader socio-political dynamics in colonial and post-colonial contexts. This paper analyses the parliamentary debates on madrasa education while tracing paradigm shifts in discourses and policies from British to independent India. Drawing on a literature review as a methodology, it examines how colonial policies initially accommodated madrasas as institutions for Muslim legal and administrative training but, at the same time, labelled them rigid and backward, prioritising secular and English-medium education. After independence, debates took a turn towards integration, modernisation, and minority rights under Article 30 of the Constitution, though persistent perceptions of madrasas as misfits and away from mainstream systems fuelled calls for reform. Key findings highlight discursive changes: from colonial orientalism that marginalised madrasas to post-colonial efforts balancing cultural preservation with national educational goals, amid challenges like funding shortages and secularism concerns. The study highlights the significance of these shifts in discourse for understanding Muslim educational marginalisation and its policy implications. This analysis could contribute to educational policy discourse by emphasising nuanced approaches to religious minority education in pluralistic societies.
Keywords: Madrasa education, colonial policies, post-colonial integration, minority rights, educational marginalisation
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© 2025 JDR Academic Trust. This is an open-access publication distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Ansari, A. A. (2025). Madrasa in Parliamentary Debates: An Analysis of Discourse and Policies in British and Independent India. Journal of Discourse Review, 1(3), 272-280.