Author: Manjari Mishra & Binay Singh
Publication: The Times of India
Dated: September 25, 2008
Introduction: What goes on behind the closed
doors of Jamia Islamia, where 'no Hindu is ever allowed'?
The tall, stately structure in pristine white
with its imposing domes and minarets springing out of paddy fields on Azamgarh
- Varanasi highway looks surreal. But the fact is Madrassa Jamia Islamia in
Brinda Bazar has always evoked the curiosity of the passersby. In neigbouring
village, Thanauli Muzaffarpur, 25 km from the district headquarters, the madrassa
inspires awe if not fear.
Stories abound about how no Hindu has ever
been allowed to set foot in Jamia's precincts. People here claim a top Congress
leader wanting to visit it was denied permission. When asked by TOI, this
leader skirted the question. The madrassa's landline telephone, it appears,
never accepts calls, as the TOI team discovered. Its photographer was denied
entry at the gate. With secrecy as impenetrable as its high boundary walls,
myths were bound to surround Jamia Islamia-myths that have multiplied over
time.
Raghav Ram (name changed), a resident of Muzaffarpur
whose relative owns farmland along the madrassa, observed how obsessively
stringent the madrassa authorities were about disallowing "outsiders''.
The place, spread over four hectares, houses more than 2,000 residential students,
mostly from Bihar. Food and accommodation is free, he said.
Bankelal (name changed), a UP Electricity
Board lineman who frequents the madrassa for billing, says the monthly electricity
bill paid by Madrassa Jamia Islamia is between Rs 6,000 and Rs 7,000 per month.
"They stop you at the gate and take down your name and address before
letting you in,'' he said. They are prompt with payments.
So what goes on behind the closed gates? BJP's
Ramakant Yadav alleges the madrassa is an active centre for indoctrination.
Arms training is given inside and its basement stocks weapons, he alleges.
But due to "minority appeasement'', no government has ever bothered to
unravel the madrassas activities, Yadav says.
After the arrest of Ahmedabad blast accused
Abu Bashar, a former student of Madrassa-tul Islam in Saraimeer, the mushrooming
madrassas are being looked at with greater suspicion than ever by the local
people. Intelligence reports link the spurt in their number with Babri Masjid
demolition in 1992, after which Pakistan's ISI is believed to have decided
that madrassas with free education, food and books could be made into an ideal
training ground.
In fact, intelligence reports say "spotters''
of the ISI have kept an eye on recruits, particularly from Azamgarh-Mau belt.
And the last 10 years have seen a dramatic rise in their numbers.
