India’s SC temporarily suspends order banning Islamic schools in UP

India’s top court has temporarily halted a lower court’s decision to ban Islamic schools in the country’s most populous state, providing relief to thousands of students and teachers, Reuters reported.

The Allahabad High Court had scrapped a 2004 law governing the madrasas in Uttar Pradesh, but the Supreme Court has put a hold on this decision until the matter is heard in July.

The head of the board of madrasa education in Uttar Pradesh welcomed the court’s order, expressing relief for the future of 1.6 million students.

Prime Minister Modi’s Nationalist government has faced accusations of anti-Islamic rhetoric and vigilantism, but Modi denies discrimination against minorities.