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 [Images],
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.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/13nepal.htm