By Twocircles.net Staff Reporter,
Durgapur: One acre land allotted in the name of Ispat Urdu School in this industrial township about 35 years ago is now under threat with miscreants – allegedly belonging to the ruling TMC – encroaching parts of the land’s entrance day by day.
The land is situated on the Trunk Road in the heart of Durgapur City, with estimated present valuation of not less than Rs one crore.
Site of Ispat Urdu School at Durgapur
The Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), a government of India enterprise, which runs the Durgapur Steel Plant here in Burdwan district, had in 1980 started allotting lands to different sections of the society for community purposes, especially for educational institutions. The Durgapur-Asansole area has more than 10 % Muslims with their mother tongue as Urdu. So at that time, some Muslim workers and officers of the Durgapur Steel plant aided by few local Muslims decided to start a school for the Muslim community.
It was decided to name the school as Ispat Urdu School and the group applied for land. The SAIL authority handed over to secretary of Ispat Urdu School M A Hafeez, an employee of SAIL, a 33-year contract for a nominal Rs one per year.
After allotment of the land, Ispat Urdu School was started temporarily. But soon as some Muslim workers retired, few returned to their respective native places, the school stopped functioning. It remained closed down for a few years.
“Then in 2008, the Committee of the Ispat Urdu School took an initiative to raise a fencing around the land,” Sk Asif, the present secretary of Ispat Urdu School, told Twocircles.net.
Asif and his new team of office bearers of the Ispat Urdu School had taken the initiative to re-start the school as an English medium school with Urdu as second language. This new body decided to put a fence around the land and accordingly, Asif wrote to the local MLA, SDO and the Mayor of Durgapur Municipal Corporation seeking administrative help. He also sought police help for the same.
Asif claims, when the work started, a group of miscreants forcibly stopped the work. “Then tactfully, few leaders of the then ruling CPIM party backed the miscreants. We waited for the change in government. When TMC came to power, we thought things will change, but unfortunately, situation has remained the same,” he alleged.
“Earlier this year, we prepared a plan and got it passed from the competent authority for construction on the land itself for the school building. But then too, a group of youngsters, all supporters of the ruling party, came and stopped the work,” he further alleged.
The secretary, Ispat Urdu School, complained to the state Minority Commission, Burdwan district magistrate, SDO, BDO, SDPO and also the local police station. But the police and local administration is totally silent and have not come forward to help save the land from encroachment, he claimed.
A delegation of Muslims also approached the Central Minority Commission member Farida Abdullha Khan during her Burdwan visit in February 2015. She directed the District Magistrate of Burdwan, in the presence of Joint Secretary of Minority Affairs and Madrassa Education Department of West Bengal government, to look into the matter.
The committee yet again decided to build a fence around the land. Asif said: this time too he informed all the authorities such as Mayor, SDO Kasturi Sengupta etc. “Few days later the SDO sent a letter calling for a meeting to solve the matter on May 8, 2015 at 4 pm. But they started the meeting around 11 am. When the school committee member reached to the SDO office as per scheduled time of 4 pm, they were told the meeting was over,” Asif claimed.
“Few days later, miscreants led by local Trinamool Congress councilor, tried to start construction on the school land. The school authority immediately lodged a complaint at the local police station against the councilor along with this supporter. But no action was taken against them,” he said.
This prompted the school committee to move the sub-judicial court at Durgapur. On May 11, 2015, the court ordered maintaining the status quo but that did not deter the miscreants to again start illegal construction and occupation of the land, the school officials claimed.
The School Committee members also met state urban development Minister Firhad Hakim but nothing has changed, they said. When Twocircles.net contacted SDO Kasturi Sengupta, she denied exploiting the Ispat School committee members and said the schedule of the meeting was changed in emergency and hence no member of the school could be present. Apurba Mukherjee, Mayor of Durgapur Municipal Corporation, said, “It is a disputed matter. A case in pending in the court. We cannot decide on this matter.”
Asif alleged that the Mayor was deliberately avoiding the matter even when all the papers are in favour of the Ispat Urdu School. The supporting documents include land hand over, land revenue and court order.
Ispat School committee members are sad at the fact that only the ruling party has changed, not their condition and blamed the local TMC people for the problem. However, the mayor and the local MLA, both belonging to TMC, have denied TMC’s involvement in the whole manner.
MLA Apurba Mukherjee assured to Muslim delegates of Ispat School that if it is proved that TMC party people are involved, party will take action against it.