They want to break free
21 Nov 2012 9:17 PM GMT
The lead song of British rock band Queen’s 1984 album named ‘The Works’, I want to break free, was a huge commercial success as well as controversial. The lyrics of the song were penned by the band’s bassist John Deacon and even in those days it managed to sell over four lakh vinyl discs. While the song had its brush with controversy in the United States, in Europe and South America it became a kind of an anthem against oppression.
Without going into the details of the song’s controversial history, its catchy lyrics came rushing back last week at Jamiatul Falah, Bilariyaganj, about 15 kilometres outside the district town of Azamgarh in eastern UP, as one watched a huge congregation of burqa-clad women intently listen to a seminar on the harm media has done to the reputation of madarsas. The women, wielding cameras and mobile phones, seated in big enclosures, hugely outnumbered their male counterparts. Of the three enclosures in the main hall, two were occupied by the women students of the madarsa.
First a few words about Jamiatul Falah. It’s an Islamic seminary (madarsa) situated in Azamgarh district which encourages ‘its students to inculcate a sense of enquiry and promotes independent thinking’ albeit ‘guided by moral values enshrined in the religious scriptures.’ Of the 4000 plus students on the rolls of the seminary, there are over 2,600 girl students.
That Azamgarh, which otherwise enjoys the reputation of being the hotbed of Islamic terrorism, could also be the seat of a progressive madarsa can be believed only on seeing it. The road to Falah, as also to other seminaries in the district, are broken and potholed, enough to de-motivate a large number of scribes desiring to know ‘the truth of madarsas of Azamgarh’.
For the secular brigade the story begins with Shibli College in Azamgarh town, often reflecting on Mahatma Gandhi’s visit a century back. For those on the other extreme of the spectrum, even a visit may not be necessary. Figures ferreted out of the police and the other security agencies could suffice to ‘indict them (the madarsas) of fuelling anti-national activity.’
To know the madaris (plural of madarsa) we have to look beyond Shibli College, Deoband (Saharanpur) and Nadwa (Lucknow), to seminaries who do not command, in absence of any better word, similar brand equity. Girls outnumbering boys in winning all the accolades and medals at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Jamiatul does not make news but two Kashmiri Falahis (as an alumnus of Falah is known) detained in Aligarh on wrongful identification makes headlines.
This brings us back to the lyrics, ‘I want to break free...’ For an outsider like your reporter, the message from the golden jubilee celebrations of Falah was clear – move ahead. What were the indicators? There were several. When a speaker tried to raise the point that the community was unnecessarily targeted on issues of purdah and polygamy, he drew thunderous applause from the male enclosure. But the silence and the body language of the huge female enclosure in its own way expressed disapproval.
The other indicator was the conspicuous absence of girls from the team of volunteers during the celebrations. While the boys proudly wore the volunteer tags and roamed around in festive mood, it was left to the girls to raise the quotient of decorum among the audience.
Their participation in the event was absolutely ‘as per schedule’ and even for the women alumni there did not seem to be any scope for any exchange of pleasantries even with their faculty. However this ‘seclusion’ did not dampen their enthusiasm to participate. They probably felt more proud of Falah than their male counterpart as education for them must have come at a much greater price. Their enthusiasm was seen in their anxiety to catch every moment of the event on their cameras and mobile phones, to which none took exception.
The males in this conservative society too seemed to have accepted the cellular revolution. That’s moving ahead – breaking free.
Going around the boys hostel, a male doesn’t get to visit girls’ hostel even in most progressive of the institutions, another positive indicator stared us in face. For the boys a ‘maulvi’ stood more for a teacher than preacher.
Seminaries like Jamiatul are updating their curriculum to give space to teaching of science and mathematics. The students are also encouraged to take class X examination from universities like Jamia Milia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Urdu University in Aligarh to bring them into the national mainstream.
What was the final take away? It could again be summed in lyrics of the famous John Deacon’s song, ‘I want to break free...’ There is a desire for sure among the students and the teachers to be not counted among those who are tagged as anti-national. The desire is to ‘break free’ from the mind set of not having been given their due. The desire is to be counted as an equal, as much an Indian as anybody else. What’s stopping them? The picture of madarsa so wrongly painted by the media and adopted by an ignorant and insecure society. As another speaker said at the seminar said, ‘instead of addressing larger questions it’s time for each one from the community to ensure such education was parted to their children which made them good human beings.’ Presence of women students in such large numbers probably indicated that such a move has already been made.
Sidharth Mishra is with Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice, and consulting editor, Millennium Post
Without going into the details of the song’s controversial history, its catchy lyrics came rushing back last week at Jamiatul Falah, Bilariyaganj, about 15 kilometres outside the district town of Azamgarh in eastern UP, as one watched a huge congregation of burqa-clad women intently listen to a seminar on the harm media has done to the reputation of madarsas. The women, wielding cameras and mobile phones, seated in big enclosures, hugely outnumbered their male counterparts. Of the three enclosures in the main hall, two were occupied by the women students of the madarsa.
First a few words about Jamiatul Falah. It’s an Islamic seminary (madarsa) situated in Azamgarh district which encourages ‘its students to inculcate a sense of enquiry and promotes independent thinking’ albeit ‘guided by moral values enshrined in the religious scriptures.’ Of the 4000 plus students on the rolls of the seminary, there are over 2,600 girl students.
That Azamgarh, which otherwise enjoys the reputation of being the hotbed of Islamic terrorism, could also be the seat of a progressive madarsa can be believed only on seeing it. The road to Falah, as also to other seminaries in the district, are broken and potholed, enough to de-motivate a large number of scribes desiring to know ‘the truth of madarsas of Azamgarh’.
For the secular brigade the story begins with Shibli College in Azamgarh town, often reflecting on Mahatma Gandhi’s visit a century back. For those on the other extreme of the spectrum, even a visit may not be necessary. Figures ferreted out of the police and the other security agencies could suffice to ‘indict them (the madarsas) of fuelling anti-national activity.’
To know the madaris (plural of madarsa) we have to look beyond Shibli College, Deoband (Saharanpur) and Nadwa (Lucknow), to seminaries who do not command, in absence of any better word, similar brand equity. Girls outnumbering boys in winning all the accolades and medals at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Jamiatul does not make news but two Kashmiri Falahis (as an alumnus of Falah is known) detained in Aligarh on wrongful identification makes headlines.
This brings us back to the lyrics, ‘I want to break free...’ For an outsider like your reporter, the message from the golden jubilee celebrations of Falah was clear – move ahead. What were the indicators? There were several. When a speaker tried to raise the point that the community was unnecessarily targeted on issues of purdah and polygamy, he drew thunderous applause from the male enclosure. But the silence and the body language of the huge female enclosure in its own way expressed disapproval.
The other indicator was the conspicuous absence of girls from the team of volunteers during the celebrations. While the boys proudly wore the volunteer tags and roamed around in festive mood, it was left to the girls to raise the quotient of decorum among the audience.
Their participation in the event was absolutely ‘as per schedule’ and even for the women alumni there did not seem to be any scope for any exchange of pleasantries even with their faculty. However this ‘seclusion’ did not dampen their enthusiasm to participate. They probably felt more proud of Falah than their male counterpart as education for them must have come at a much greater price. Their enthusiasm was seen in their anxiety to catch every moment of the event on their cameras and mobile phones, to which none took exception.
The males in this conservative society too seemed to have accepted the cellular revolution. That’s moving ahead – breaking free.
Going around the boys hostel, a male doesn’t get to visit girls’ hostel even in most progressive of the institutions, another positive indicator stared us in face. For the boys a ‘maulvi’ stood more for a teacher than preacher.
Seminaries like Jamiatul are updating their curriculum to give space to teaching of science and mathematics. The students are also encouraged to take class X examination from universities like Jamia Milia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Urdu University in Aligarh to bring them into the national mainstream.
What was the final take away? It could again be summed in lyrics of the famous John Deacon’s song, ‘I want to break free...’ There is a desire for sure among the students and the teachers to be not counted among those who are tagged as anti-national. The desire is to ‘break free’ from the mind set of not having been given their due. The desire is to be counted as an equal, as much an Indian as anybody else. What’s stopping them? The picture of madarsa so wrongly painted by the media and adopted by an ignorant and insecure society. As another speaker said at the seminar said, ‘instead of addressing larger questions it’s time for each one from the community to ensure such education was parted to their children which made them good human beings.’ Presence of women students in such large numbers probably indicated that such a move has already been made.
Sidharth Mishra is with Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice, and consulting editor, Millennium Post
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