The Jammu and Kashmir government has taken charge of an additional 58 institutions affiliated to Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). This latest action brings the total number of schools now under government management to nearly 300, all allegedly linked to the banned JeI outfit.

The directive was reportedly issued by the Secretary of J&K’s School Education Department. The order explicitly references two notifications from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, invoking the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, under which Jamaat-e-Islami was first banned in 2019, and its prohibition reiterated in February 2024.

Government officials confirmed that teams from the district administration and police fanned out across the valley on Saturday to assume management of these 58 Falah-e-Aam Trust (FAT) schools. These institutions, many concentrated in North Kashmir, were identified as being directly or indirectly affiliated with FAT, the educational arm of JeI.

Reports indicate that the managing committees of these specific schools had either completed their tenures and ceased to function or their members had been flagged adversely in intelligence agency reports. The question remains why committees ceased to function, is it out of fear or their other life engagements?

DCs tasked to ensure ‘quality education as per NEP’

According to the official notification, the takeover of schools aims to “secure the future of the students and protect the schools from anti-national activities.” Deputy Commissioners (DCs) across the region have been tasked with ensuring that academic activities within these newly acquired schools continue without interruption. Crucially, they are also mandated to submit proposals for new managing committees, with a strict requirement that all prospective members obtain prior police clearance.

“DCs shall also take all necessary measures to ensure quality education as per NEP (National Education Policy 2020) norms in these schools,” the order further reads.

This isn’t the first wave of such actions. The government had previously taken over the management of 215 JeI-affiliated schools in August 2025 across 10 districts of the Valley. That earlier phase saw massive takeovers in districts like Baramulla (53 schools), Anantnag (37), and Kupwara (36), among others.

A legacy under scrutiny

Before its ban, Jamaat-e-Islami operated an extensive network of approximately 350 schools throughout Jammu and Kashmir through its Falah-e-Aam Trust, which was established in 1972. This network served a substantial student body of around one lakh. While FAT’s own constitution described it as a “non-political” body dedicated to educating “students from all shades of society without any discrimination,” the government has completely banned its parent organisation, which has brought its entire legacy under intense governmental scrutiny.

The reading down of Article 370 in 2019 has further intensified the police administration’s examination of managing bodies of all private educational institutions, particularly those run by the FAT, for alleged terror links. Intelligence agencies have been thoroughly engaged in identifying schools with direct or indirect associations with JeI or its Falah-e-Aam Trust, leading directly to the current state-led interventions.