By Nafisul Hasan
Mohammad Salim, a student of Nirmala Convent Higher Secondary School in Madhya Pradesh was debarred from a school for having a beard. The case was taken up to the Supreme Court. The verdict generated only anger but no brain storming among Muslim community. Justice Katju among other comments also said, “You can join some other institution if you do not want to observe the rules. You can’t ask a school to change the rules for you,” The question arise which convent such Muslim students should join? How many do we have in every state of India?
Where are our egos that get gigantic during discussion on religious topics, managing AMU old boys association and our institution but remain asleep on the comments such as above? Aren’t the comments by the learned judge enough to wake us up and take a vow to establish our own educational institution where Muslim students can receive quality education and also hold on to their identity and where the rules do not debar students with beard or burqa.
“Ego,” which created a Mahatma out of M.K.Gandhi when he was thrown out of a first class railway compartment, vowed to liberate India from the clutches of slavery. Where is our “ana”, the ego that does not get hurt by the comments of learned judge, not to criticize him but to emancipate Muslim community from the dark cloud of illiteracy and backwardness?
Every school has a set of rules and guidelines especially privately managed un-aided ones and the student there in have to abide by those rules. If one can not, he / she has to leave the institution. But alas, we are expert in engaging in non-productive exercise/fights such as providing special leave in schools and offices for our religious needs, issuing bizarre fatawas and taking the beard case to the highest level and getting nothing but embarrassment.
One can say that the community is not starved of educational institution. Yes, we have many in nooks and corners of country but they are designed as “gharibon ke schools” where students can get free education and food and where rich amongst us can pour their charity to earn plenty of sawab (rewards in the hereafter) least realizing that a school started and running as “gharibon ka school” will remain so for ever. With sub-standard education so much so that the Muslim students desirous of quality education will have to enter “other schools” where they have to either compromise on their identity or thrown out with insult as happened a in the recent beard case.
The irony of the community is that common Muslim masses do not attach importance to education. If at all they are inspired, they want the education to their children at no cost as they get it in our madarsas but no school imparting quality modern education and trying to establish it self among the good schools of the town can run on “total free education to all of its students”. Madarasa can, as our people keep donating their money for want of sawab. Besides they also have a full fledged team of mudarris for collecting door to door chanda (contributions).
It is not that nothing can be done .Poverty among Muslims can be eradicated and the feeder institution of quality education can be created but it is sad to observe that many among our community are more interested to “give a fish” to the needy than to make them learn “how to catch a fish” and let the “gharibon ke schools” run as they are and forever.
If we want Muslim students holding on to their identity in good schools /colleges, we have to create our own educational institutions with good canvas and standard of education at par with other convents of the town/city. But this can never be achieved if a school gets branded as “gharibon ka school.” Sooner or later a school has to be brought to the level where it can stand on its legs with good standard of education which can attracts the students from all section of community (common and elite ) and produce a “product” which is ready to face the competitive world for next higher education. This can happen only when educated elites , rich and ulemas from the community make efforts to transform our educational institution from “gharibon ka school “ to the institution that are centers of excellence which comprise of good infrastructure, quality staff and syllabus.
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Nafisul Hasan runs Sir Syed Public School in Dehradun.