Assam: Madrassa demolished, students face uncertain future

A day after the madrassa he was studying in was demolished by villagers of Darogar Alga char sand bar in Goalpara district of Assam 10yearold Abdul Hamid and his classmates stare at an uncertain futureAfter completing his primary education up to Class 5 at the Darogar Alga Majar Char Lower Primary School Hamids father got him admitted to the local madrassa for learning theologyOur madrassa was demolished yesterday But our teachers had run away a few days ago after the police came looking for them around 20 days back Since then no class has taken place Hamid told PTI hereThe Assam Police on Tuesday claimed that people have demolished the madrassa and a house adjacent to it in protest against the alleged use of its premises for jihadi activitiesHamid said all his classmates had left the seminary for their homes after two teachers allegedly Bangladeshis disappeared following the arrest of some persons in connection with alleged jehadi linksAlso Read Mumbai KRK gets bail in controversial tweets caseIsmail Mohammed another student of the madrassa said he will have to help his father in farming if he cannot join another institute somewhere elseMy father cannot afford to send me to a high school for studies I have only two options either join another madrassa or help my father in farming he addedHamids father Somesh Ali said all parents took their children home after the news of terror links were alleged with the two teachers of the madrassaMy son was very good at studies He even had made a small machine boat using batteries and small pieces of tin during his school days I got him admitted in the madrassa about four months back Ali saidAsked why he admitted Hamid to a religious course instead of proper general studies despite his scientific knack he said that the village does not have a high school and the boy would have to travel a lot for higher studiesMoreover he will earn something and will be able to feed himself if one day he becomes an Imam the father utteredThe madrassa which was demolished had around 20 students They were studying theology by staying in the compound which also houses a mosque The mosque however was not dismantledAsked why parents take their children away from general schools and admit them to the madrassa Habibur Rahman the only teacher of the Darogar Alga Majar Char Lower Primary School said there may be more than one reason for thisA madrassa offers food and lodging for the students and that helps poor parents However I dont think it is the reason here he told PTI sitting under a peepal tree on the school compoundThe Muslim community considers it to be holy if a persons janaja funeral prayer is conducted by a family member especially a son Rahman saidThis is one of the main reasons among the less educated Muslim families for sending their children to madrassa education instead of general studies Two students from Class 1 and 3 were studying in the madrassa after leaving my school he addedThe veteran school teacher who has been serving the institution since 1987 said that he disapproves of the parents decision to discontinue school education of the kids for religious studiesI told the parents that I will not issue any certificate for their children if they study in a madrassa Strangely the parents were fine with it Rahman saidAn almost similar experience was shared by Soburuddin the single teacher of Darogar Alga Majar Char Lower Primary School No 2 regarding two of his studentsTheir parents were adamant in taking their sons away from the school to get admission in the madrassa I tried to convince them about the benefits and prospects of general education but they did not listen he addedThe two students of his school were studying in Class 3 and 4 Soburuddin said adding I did not give any certificate to themUzir Jamal a 62yearold resident of the village said poor infrastructure of governmentrun schools is also forcing parents to take their children to madrassasAll the five LP schools in the char sand bar have students from Class 1 to 5 but there is only one teacher in each of them Is it possible to impart quality education by a single teacher to five classes at the same time asked JamalApart from teaching the single teacher of all the schools manages midday meal arrangements like shopping and looking after cooking though there are two cooks in each school he addedAssam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta had last week said that there are about 3000 registered and unregistered madrassas across Assam that are run by four main Muslim organisationsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever