By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain, TwoCircles.net
Starting from July, the West Bengal Director of Madrasa Education will start a 45-day free of cost self-defence training programme for girls from Class 9 to 12.
Parents, teachers, students all welcomed this initiative which seeks to improve the students’ fitness and train them in primary Karate.
Abid Hossain, the Director of West Bengal Madrasa Education, said, “The minority department has undertaken an initiative for Madrasa girl students in order to improve their confidence level enough for their own security and for their physical fitness in their daily life.” He added that trained instructors will be employed in every Madrasas for this training from the next month and also said that it will be continued, if necessary, after reviewing the whole procedure and its outcome.
A.K.M Farhad, the State President of Madrasa Teachers’ Association, West Bengal, said, “it’s a good initiative since it will ensure girls’ honor, safety and confidence in time of need.” He thanked S. Suresh Kumar, the Principal Secretary of Madrasa Education department and chief minister Mamata Banerjee for his insistent attempt in introducing this programme.
However, there lies a vast gap between the theory and its actual execution of this scheme, according to some of the Madrasa teachers. For instance, Abdul Maboud, a retired madrasa teacher from Bankura district and also the father of Mozammel Haque, the second ranker in the recent West Bengal Madhyamik Examination, said, “no doubt it’s a good step, but there lies doubts on how it’s going to be implemented in madrasas as well as how it’s going to help girls as forms of women violence is not a hand to hand act, rather something far more dangerous.”
Md. Khadimul Islam, the Headmaster of Hatkhala High Madrasa of Chapra block, Nadia, had a similar opinion. He said, “It will be difficult to execute in many Madrasas as many parents, some from remote villages who still deny to send their daughters to school or Madrasa for education, are unlikely to allow this training. Then how will the targets be accomplished”? He added that till now they did not get any circular from higher Madrasa authority. Once they receive an official circular, it they will be doing a guardians’ meeting to make them aware about the training.