37 years on,Urdu school faces second eviction

When its five-storey building at Sarai Khalil in Sadar Bazar was torn down during the Emergency,the Qaumi Senior Secondary School moved to the Shahi Eidgah premises where students and teachers sat in tents and,later,in tin sheds.

When its five-storey building at Sarai Khalil in Sadar Bazar was torn down during the Emergency,the Qaumi Senior Secondary School moved to the Shahi Eidgah premises where students and teachers sat in tents and,later,in tin sheds.

But now,37 years later,700 students and 28 teachers of this Urdu-medium school stare at an uncertain future. The new Eidgah Committee,appointed by the Waqf Board,wants its land back and the school out.

The school,run by the Qaumi Education Society since 1948 and is an aided institution under the Directorate of Education,is housed in two rows of tin sheds which,school officials say,occupy less than 10 per cent of the Eidgah premises that can accommodate several thousand faithful during prayers.

The original school building in Sarai Khalil was demolished on June 30,1976. School manager Abdul Malik Qureshi,who was then a Class V student,said he watched his school building come down. The management was told that the school will be provided a piece of land close by and a new building will be constructed, Qureshi said.

But when no land was allotted to the trust,the Eidgah committee allowed the school to function from its premises. Subsequent Eidgah committees continued to let the school be. A decade ago,residents pooled money to provide for tin roofs. The tents would get too hot during summer,too cold in winter. During the rains,we would have to shut the school in any case, Qureshi said.

School principal Mohabbat Ali said the Eidgah Committee has land nearby which can be transferred to the school. The Eidgah Exchange,situated less than 50 metres from the Eidgah,has nearly 1.5 acre lying idle. It can be allotted to the school, Ali said. A seven-acre area where once the Eidgah slaughter house stood,now lies vacant.

Qureshi said: I have been to so many leaders,so many have visited the place. Everyone promises land for the school but no one returns.

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When his comments were sought,Shakir Dost Muhammad,president of the Shahi Eidgah Committee,said the decision to move the school was taken by the committee considering the increase in population in the surrounding areas. The number of namazis has gone up and we need that space. I went to a minister and asked for allotment of land to the school on humanitarian grounds but no one wants to act, he said.

Director of Education Amit Singla said infrastructure was the responsibility of the school management. We provide 95 per cent aid to about 200 schools every month,but the grant is for teacher salaries and other expenses.

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