In Juhapura,Muskan gets to smile

Juhapura is Ahmedabad’s largest Muslim-inhabited area. Since 2002,it has also housed nearly 1,000 Muslims displaced by the riots who have been living in more than 100 tents. With no government school nearby,a generation of children here such as Muskan has gone without schooling. That may change now,with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation last Monday announcing a primary school,an urban health centre and an anganwadi centre near where the tents are located. All these are to come up within a year.

As you enter the area,a board declaring “Bharat desh ke Juhapura vistar me aapka swagat hai (India’s Juhapura area welcomes you)” strikes you. And then does the irony of it.

One of the worst-affected areas of the 2002 riots in Ahmedabad,which took in many of the riot displaced,swelling its population to nearly four lakh,Juhapura has almost fallen off the government’s map since. Once falling under the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority and since 2007,under the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation,it has no basic infrastructure,with even buses not running regularly through it anymore.

Muskan is among more than 300 children,between the ages of one and 14 at the camp for the riot-displaced,who go to a nearby tent to study. The camp goes by the name ‘Barf Factory Basti’,located as it is right opposite an ice factory. Nearly 80 per cent of these 300 children were born after 2002.

Every day,except Sunday,between 8 am and 12 noon,three volunteers of the NGO Parwaaz divide these children into age-wise huddles and teach them. They have been running these classes for almost one year under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Ask the children as to who all want to go to school,and all hands go up.

“In the past one decade that these people have been here,there have been no classes or any kind of formal education being given to their children. Everybody wants to go to a school and study. More than anything else,they want to write,” says Khairunnisha Pathan,the coordinator of the NGO. While the boys either want to join the Army or police,the girls want to become teachers.

“Muskan is one of the intelligent students here. She can do simple mathematical sums and read and write,apart from reciting tables till 8,” says Sabina Diwan,one the volunteers. Fourteen-year-old Salim stands out because of his talent to draw,proudly showing a sketch he has made of Amitabh Bachchan.

Before the riots,these families lived in Gupta Nagar,a Hindu-dominated area near Juhapura,which they were forced to leave. Most of the people in Juhapura’s camps are labourers or work in workshops and factories.

Muskan’s mother Salma Zakir believes her going to a proper school can make all the difference. “Hamara to bhavishya bigad gaya hai par hum inka banana chahte hain (Our future is destroyed but we want her to have a chance at a different life),” says the 32-year-old. Her father,who puts number plates and radium stickers on vehicles,is hopeful of sending Muskan to an English-medium school.

Julfan,13,too is excited about finally going to a “formal school”. “The nearest government school is very far from here. How do I go there?” he shrugs,adding that his parents can’t afford the fees for the private schools nearby. When his classes are over,Julfan helps his father in his work.

None of Chand Salim’s three sons and three daughters (two already married) has ever been to school. “We have valid ration cards,voter card and even Aadhaar cards but are still struggling for identity and existence. We vote like other residents of this area but don’t get the same treatment,” says the 42-year-old.

Hasim Ali,a 32-year-old who sells Islamic books to make his ends meet,has four children between the ages of 15 months and nine years. But again,none has been to school.

It is not only this displaced Muslim population but also residents of the ‘E’ ward of Juhapura where the municipal school,urban health centre and anganwadi centre will come up who are eagerly looking forward to them.

Sitting outside her house that is opposite the plot where the facilities are coming up,Ayesha Arab,an octogenarian who has seven grandchildren from three sons,is counting her blessings. The older ones won’t have to travel long distances to school while the younger ones can be sent to the anganwadi centre,Arab says. The commuting right now costs more than the school fees.

Rizwan Rangrez,a 23-year-old homemaker who has two children aged two and five,is also waiting eagerly. “If there is a school right in front of my house,then why will I not send them? More than convenience,it is safe and secure,” she says.

At the classes that the NGO holds,the children have reading and writing sessions as well as activities where they recite poems or dance to popular Bollywood numbers. Girls take the lead,as shy,reluctant boys watch on or copy them.

Opposite the tents is a mosque with a madrasa,which also holds classes. Muskan knows about them. “The maulana teaches us Aslam Quran for two hours but we do not get to learn these things (taught by Parwaaz) there,” she says.

“There are two things we want the government to focus on in Juhapura,” says Prof Vipin Kumar Tripathi,who has been actively working in Juhapura and fighting for the educational rights of residents under his ‘Sadbhav’ Mission. “One is government schools and the other is quality of education. Today,in the absence of government schools,a few parents are sending their wards to low-tuition private schools but a majority are unable to afford the fees.”

A physics professor at IIT Delhi since 1983,Tripathi happened to visit Juhapura as a part of his doctoral thesis in 2007. Since then,he has been visiting the area regularly and has been instrumental in creating awareness,which last year resulted in the government approving a 10-room building for a panchayat school in the Gyaspur Bhatta area. Tripathi is now hoping to convince the Modi government to approve the implementation of scholarships to minority students.

Mehrunnisa Desai,vice-principal of R J College,Vastrapur,and also the founder president of the Association of Muslim Women,Juhapura,says,“For a population of around 4 lakh,Juhapura doesn’t have enough schools. There are only 30 primary schools,of which only four are panchayat schools,the remaining are private. These four panchayat schools cater to only 2,000-2,200 students,running in two shifts. Thus children from BPL families do not enroll themselves at all,” she says.

Even the panchayat schools are in dire straits. Pre-fabricated structures serve as classrooms in some while most of them are overcrowded and without any furniture.

Similarly,there are only four grant-in-aid private high schools,including F D High School,Shantiniketan School,N K High School and New Age High School,while only one government or panchayat high school. Of these four private high schools,N K High School doesn’t provide higher secondary education. Again,only one government school provides higher secondary education.

“There is a not a single college or institute for higher education,technical education or skill development in the entire area,” Desai says,adding that the worst-affected in these circumstances are women.

Principal of FD Higher Secondary School Mohammad Hussain Gena points out that,because of the shortage of schools,they are forced to take in more than their capacity. The student strength here is more than 5,000 and children study in two shifts. “Such is the burden and pressure during admission days that parents force us to admit their wards. They come with references from influential people. This leads to a class of 85 and even 90 when the capacity is only of 60,” says Gena.

One of the school’s alumni,Zuber Malek,has been living in the US for the past 12 years. “There has been a substantial growth in education though it hasn’t kept pace with the population and other areas of growth. For instance,there was no English-medium school when I was growing up in Juhapura,but at least that’s changing,” he says.

Hazi Asratbaig,the Congress councillor from Sarkhej ward,claims credit for the corporation’s announcement of a new school,and health and anganwadi centres. “We were told that these were coming up with JNNURM funds. We are getting them after repeated requests made to the Centre when the state paid no heed to our demands,” he says.

Asratbaig also accuses the state government of not doing enough. “These three facilities are not a solution for the residents of Juhapura until they get proper transportation,roads and drainage systems. How will students go to school when there is no basic transportation? Autorickshaws are the only public transportation available to Juhapura’s residents.”

AMC Municipal Commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra,however,insists that more is coming Juhapura’s way. “AMC has planned a Town Planning Scheme for the area. This would give the residents basic facilities like a good drainage system,roads,schools,health services. The survey has already started and we are expected to submit the report at the end of this year,” says Mohapatra.

Starting February 13,children in Juhapura’s camps have also been getting mid-day meals at the temporary school that Parwaaz runs. “Children eagerly wait for the mid-day meals,which is a motivation for them to study,” says Khairunnisha Pathan.

District Collector Vijay Nehra says they had to get the Akshay Patra Foundation to supply mid-day meals since there was no kitchen in the tent where the children study.

That the mid-day meal is the high point of the schooling day is obvious. As the van carrying the meals arrives,everyone excitedly runs towards it. The eldest children help bring down the utensils carrying the food and serve it.

Spotting thepla,rice and dal,many eyes light up.