Ghazanfar Abbas | Caravan Daily
RANCHI/ NEW DELHI: This coming November, Jharkhand will become major as it will turn 18. In the last 17 years, successive governments have done precious little to set up minority-related government institutions like Waqf Board, Madrasa Board and Urdu Academy. While Minority Commission was formed in March last year, Haj Committee was formed just couple of weeks ago.
The indifferent attitude of the governments – most of them were ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party either as majority party or coalition partner – has created disappointment among the minorities, especially the Muslim community of the state.
It is not that the community did not raise the issue. During this long period, members of the community wrote to the government and even Governors in this regard but they were not heeded.
“We gave memorandums to governors several times and also wrote to chief ministers but no one has listened to us. There is no Urdu Academy. Waqf Board is still defunct. Neither Syed Sibtey Razi nor Syed Ahmed (as governors) did anything during their tenure,” Prof. Ahmad Sajjad, former Head of Dept. of Urdu and Dean of Humanities, Ranchi University told Caravan Daily.
In the last 17 years, the state got 10 chief ministers –four were from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and five from BJP, including the incumbent Raghubar Das who will complete his 5-year term in 2019.
When asked about Das’s last year assurance that Urdu Academy would be formed soon, Prof. Sajjad said, “Government has done nothing. BJP is expert in telling lies.”
Prof. Sajjad, who is also a member of Executive Body of Anjuman Tarqqi-e Urdu, told that when Jharkhand was part of Bihar, Urdu was an official language of the undivided state but no Urdu Academy has been formed after the bifurcation.
Urdu Teachers’ Posts Vacant For Years
Not just institutions, undermining the Jharkhand High Court order, the state government has not initiated any recruitment process for Urdu teachers in schools, that too since its inception in November 2000.
In 2016, Anjuman Taraqqi-e Urdu had filed a case in the High Court seeking directions for the state government to fill vacancies of Urdu teachers but despite the order, the government did nothing.
“Over 4000 posts for Urdu teachers are vacant since Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar. Despite the order of the High Court, the government has not implemented it,” said Prof. Sajjad.
He also claims that teachers of other subjects are recruited but not that of Urdu and due to this, students are suffering a lot.
Talking about higher education he told, “For ten years no teacher has been hired in Ranchi University except some contractual teachers for Urdu and that too for evening shift.”
Jharkhand was formed on 15 November 2000, carving 18 districts out of Bihar through the passage of Bihar Reorganization Bill by the Parliament of India. As per the Census 2011, Muslims constitute 14.53 % of the total population of Jharkhand.
No Madrasa Board Yet
Abrar Ahmad, president, Anjuman Islamia, the organisation which has been working for madrasa education of minority students, said that for any educational work they need to approach the Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) because there is no Madrasa Board, and this results in most of the issues remaining unresolved for a long time.
“There is no institute by the name of ‘Minority Welfare’ in Jharkhand. Waqf board has no chairman, it is defunct. No Madrasa Board yet. Now for any educational work we need to approach JAC,” Abrar Ahmad told Caravan Daily.
“We are in isolation. No political party is taking any interest,” he hopelessly said.
Ahmad said that 100-year-old Madrasa Islamia of Ranchi, which was established by first Education Minister of India Maulana Abul Kalam Azad himself, also needs government’s attention.
Till March 2017, state’s Minority Commission was also defunct. Now it is headed by a former spokesperson of BJP Mohammad Kamaal Khan. Couple of weeks ago, Haj Committee was formed.
All the five institutions were in Bihar at the time of bifurcation and they have continued functioning.
