A day after the Uttar Pradesh government announced that it plans to introduce a dress code for the madrasa students, Muslim clerics in the state have voiced their opinions against the move.

On Tuesday (July 3), UP Waqf and Haj Minister Mohsin Raza had said that the government wants a specific uniform for children studying in the madrasas in order to bring them at par with the pupils of other government and private schools.

"The aim of the UP government is to bring madrasas at par with other educational institutions in every sense. Till now, students in madrasas have been wearing 'kurta-payjamas' but now this dress code will make it more formal... We might also try to meet the expenses," Raza was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

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Uttar Pradesh government wants to introduce new dress code in Madrasas. [In file: Indian Muslim students recite from the Quran in a classroom during the month of Ramadan at The Madrasa Islamia Darul-Uloom Ashrafia in Hyderabad on June 24, 2015. As well as abstinence and fasting during Ramadan, Muslims are encouraged to pray and read the Quran during Islam's holiest month]NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images

This move for a formal uniform comes a few days after NCERT syllabus—which made Maths and Science compulsory— were introduced into the Madarsa curriculum.

According to Raza, a "proper dress code instead of a particular type of kurta pajama will inculcate confidence among the students of madarsas."

"Madrasa students are already availing religious education, we are not going to hamper it, we are only going to impart them social education to integrate them with the country's mainstream and help them go to the IIMs or the IITs and clear competitive examinations," Raza added.

Muslim cleric slam proposal to introduce uniform

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Uttar Pradesh proposes formal uniform in Madrasas. [In File: Indian Muslim students recite from the Quran in Jama Masjid Wazeer-un-Nissa during the month of Ramadan at Madrasa Imam Anwaarullah in Hyderabad on June 14, 2016.]NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images

However, this announcement has not gone down well with the Muslim clerics and maulanas.

The clerics are of the opinion that the government is interfering with the norms laid down by the management of the madrasas.

"Dress code for all the madrasas and colleges that are running in this country is not decided by the government. It is decided by the managing committee of that institution. So, why such discrimination against the madrasas?" Sufiyan Nizami, a Mulsim Cleric, told ANI.

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Uttar Pradesh government’s has proposed to do away with ‘kurta pajama’ in Madrasas. [Representational image]Creative commons

Madarasa Darul Uloom Firangi Mahal also echoed Nizami's opinion. "It should be left to us to decide what is good for Madrasas, in any case hardly one to two percent of Muslim children study in Madrasas. The government should not worry," Mahal added.

Though the UP government has not yet announced what the new dress code will be, it is being speculated that madrasa students will have to wear shirt and pants to their schools.