Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today criticisedthe madarsas in the state for their refusal to put up a portrait of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inside their premises, asking them to give up their”conservatism” on the issue.

“Installing the prime minister’s portrait in all government institutionsand those being run on government grants has been an established practice.The madarsas should give up their conservatism on the issue,” he toldreporters here.

“Madarsas are also educational institutions. They should not have anyobjection to installing a portrait of the prime minister. They should viewthe issue from the Indian point of view,” Rawat added.

The madarsas in the BJP-ruled state have refused to comply with a stategovernment order, asking the state-run educational institutions to installa portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on their premises, on religiousgrounds.

“The madarsas in the state have not installed pictures of the primeminister because of religious beliefs as Islam prohibits installation ofpictures of living beings inside mosques and madarsas,” Deputy Registrar ofUttarakhand Madarsa Board Akhlaq Ahmad had told PTI yesterday.

However, he had also said that the refusal to install the picture of theprime minister inside the madarsas should not be interpreted as theiropposition to an individual.

“They are not opposed to any individual in particular. It is purely due toreligious beliefs. Islam does not permit us to install pictures of livingthings or individuals, including those of religious leaders, inside themosques or madarsas,” Ahmad had said.

The order was issued to all the government-run educational institutionssoon after the Independence Day last year, asking them to install aportrait of Modi inside their premises and take a pledge to implement hisvision of building a new India by 2022.