@parthparihar for this analysis.

“Coverage of India by the NYT has become unreadable. This NYT story, sourced by Reuters, headlines that BJP-ruled Assam "bans Islamic schools." The natural conclusion, made in the piece, is that "the move is an attack on Muslims." (1/n)

“What Really Happened:

* These madrassas were schools run by Assam's state government. The state government is converting 126 religious schools funded and run by the state into public, secular institutions.” (2/n)

“* Hence, Islamic schools are NOT banned; private individuals can continue to run madrassas. In fact, Article 30 of India's Constitution gives religious minorities special privileges to run their own educational institutions.” (3/n)

“* Earlier, the same BJP government in Assam had similarly converted 97 state-run Veda pathshaalas into "study centres" under the auspices of a state-run University.” (4/n)

“In Feb ‘20, the State gov’t announced it would make these moves, saying, "Religious teachings cannot be imparted w/ government funds in a secular country." Thus, they defunded/converted religious schools funded by the State belonging to 2 separate religious denominations” (5/n)

Sources: (6/n)

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/dec/30/assam-passes-bill-to-convert-state-run-madrasas-into-regular-schools-2243278.html

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/assam-assembly-passes-bill-to-abolish-state-run-madrasas/article33455265.ece

“The NYT piece also includes the image of CAA protesters, even though this article has absolutely nothing to do with that subject. The NYT article is also objectively wrong when it says "the schools will be shut." And mentions their number as 700.” (7/n)

“Journalists cannot possibly be THIS bad at their job. It is NOT possible. The errors are not random. This post is not a blanket endorsement of the BJP in any way. “ (8/n)

“It is an attempt to highlight the ways in which events in India are perennially distorted by our own press and always, invariably, lead to a singular conclusion.” (9/9)