‘I never meant those words’

An inquiry committee has been formed to look into the incident and take necessary steps. Education Department officials have strict instructions from “higher level” not to speak a word on the issue.

However,sources say that in the last week of June,a recommendation was floated to the examination committee of the Board to debar Kayamuddin from the 2010 examination. It was also suggested that the four teachers at the evaluation centre in Muzaffarnagar,where his answer-sheet was evaluated,be debarred from evaluation duty in the future for leaking the information.

The sources said the file was pending with Prabha Tripathi,secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Board,who was not available for comment. “The recommendation was sent on June 22. But no one knows what actually happened after that because the matter has been kept secret and the secretary of the Board is handling the entire matter,” said a senior official in the Board.

Muzafarul Hassan,principal,Ganga Prasad Inter College,Majhgawan,where Kayamuddin was studying,said,“While filling the examination form,he had mentioned English as a subject in words but had stated the wrong code—that of Sanskrit. After he came to the school for correcting the error,his file was sent to the Board but it was too late for any correction to be made.” Interestingly,Kayamuddin has been marked absent in the History paper,in which he allegedly scribbled the words.

As information of possibly being debarred from the Board examinations reached him,Kayamuddin left to learn to work as “a slider,who fixes window glass on aluminium frames” at a high-rise building in Noida,not giving away his exact location even to his father. “People back home started relating me to my words on the answer-sheet after the police came to my house last month. After I was blacklisted,there was no point in becoming a further burden on my father. Thus,I decided to come to Delhi in search of work,which I finally found on July 1,” Kayamuddin told The Sunday Express from Noida. “Now my recruiter has come to know about the matter and is showing reluctance about ensuring a job for me after I learn the work. They had promised to pay me Rs 3,000 per month after August 25.”

Kayamuddin added,“When I went to write the History paper,I was told by the examiner that I would be regarded as fail because I was being marked absent in Sanskrit and would not be allowed to sit for the English exam. I did not know what to do. At first,I wanted to commit suicide by jumping from the second floor of the examination hall,but then I thought about my ailing father. In anger and in order to attract attention,I wrote certain words,which I should not written—how I wanted to become an ugravadi because of injustice done to me and how I wanted to shoot the Chief Minister. The words did attract attention but in a negative way.”

He says Mayawati was at the back of his mind because “her banners were all over the place”. A few days before the incident,Mayawati had inaugurated her first election rally from Deoria with much pomp and show.

Kayamuddin’s neighbours in the village know him as a boy who was calm and reserved. He never made any close friends. “He never indulged in any scuffle with anyone in the village. He was a quiet boy,who would go to the fields with his books to study after coming from school,” says Upendra Tiwari,a neighbour.

Says Inayat Hussain,Kayamuddin’s younger brother who is in Class 7,“I used to consult him on studies because my other two brothers had quit studies to work and he was the only one who continued with school. I too wanted to follow him.” Kayamuddin’s eldest brother is a driver,while another is a carpenter. The family of seven—there is also a younger sister—lives in a kuccha room measuring 5×6 feet and covered with a tin shade. His father Muneer Ansari says,“Kayamuddin always concentrated on his studies and had a strong belief that good knowledge of English could bring better prospects for him. He got 55 per cent in English in his Class 10th Board exam.” He adds,“I regret his kiddish act and apologise to anyone who might have been hurt by his words. After he left,some policemen came and said that I should not let Kayamuddin leave as he might be called for enquiry anytime. I told them that he had left for Delhi. They got in touch with him and enquired about him from his employer. I do not know what is happening. I am worried because he has left home for the first time and does not easily share his feelings. He calls me once in few days to ask about my health.”