By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
[This report is part of the TCN Series on Education, sponsored by The Aligarh Forum]
Lucknow: Circa 2008: Two incidents in this year changed the destiny of Azamgarh youths. A relatively backward district nearly eight hours of journey from state capital Lucknow, Azamgarh is now well known.
One of the incidents being Batla House Encounter on 19 September 2008 which still haunts Azamgarh. Those who were killed in the encounter died but the agony did not end here only. Several youths of Azamgarh were picked up, some of them are still languishing in jail while several of them have disappeared. Many lost their jobs others left their education while others were disconnected from their family. This incident almost diminished the likely great impact of a positive incident that had occurred just four months before. However, of late the positive development is showing good results.
Prior to Batla shootout, another incident had occurred in Azamgarh. On 27 May 2008, Lucknow University declared the result of Combined Pre Medical Test (CPMT). Considered to be toughest test in the state which is the gateway for admission to undergraduate medical course MBBS, BDS etc, the result took everyone by surprise. An Azamgarh lad had topped the examination scoring 185/200 marks.
So while Batla House Encounter dissuaded the youths from mainstream, the CPMT-2008 topper Tauhid Ahmed still holds inspiration for the young boys and girls. Tauheed’s story is not marked with adjectives of living in penury, studying against all odds etc. In fact, it was a simple story depicting sheer hard work. Tauheed came from a well off family. His father is doctor, his two siblings -brother and sister- both pursued their MBBS courses. After clearing intermediate from Azad Memorial Inter College in Anjan Shaheed Nagar in Azamgarh, he came to Lucknow. After having cleared CPMT-2007 he missed the MBBS course by one mark and refused to join BDS.
Tauheed enrolled at PMT College, a coaching institute run by S Ahmed in Hazratganj (Lucknow) and topped the examination. As one enters the coaching, big portraits of Tauheed greet you with caption of Topper. The owner of the coaching S Ahmed refused to buy the idea that he is cashing in on his success. “See, if I had wished to exploit it as commercially there were several means. I had only propagated his success among the Muslim community and that too mainly in his region, Azamgarh and surrounding areas,” he said. The year after year propagation has paid good results. Boys and girls after completing their class XII now head towards Lucknow for seriously taking up coaching to crack CPMT. Many of them succeed though there is no topper but getting through it is no simple thing.
“We have seen an increase in Muslim enrolment. Earlier, hardly 15-20 percent children from Muslim community were in a class. Now the number ranges between 60-70 percent. It is good sign, most of them are serious and study hard,” remarked S Ahmed, the owner of the PMT College. Many of them are poor while others can afford the fees. “We offer free coaching if any Muslim openly says that he will not be able to pay,” claims Ahmed. Presently there are over 1000 girls and boys enrolled at the coaching.
With Tauhid as role model, the Muslim boys and girls from Azamgarh and adjoining areas are slowly picking up the pieces of their career, leaving behind the stigma of Batla House encounter.