Reading with Allah: Madrasas in West Bengal

205 Pages·2009·2.123 MB·English

by  Nilanjana Gupta

Reading with Allah
ii (cid:1) Reading with Allah
Reading with Allah
Madrasas in West Bengal
Nilanjana Gupta
LONDON NEW YORK NEW DELHI
iv (cid:1) Reading with Allah
First published 2009
by Routledge
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Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2009 Nilanjana Gupta
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-415-54459-7
Finally…
This one’s for you,
Gautam
vi (cid:1) Reading with Allah
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements ix
List of Tables, Figures and Maps xi
1. Introduction 1
2. State and Madrasa Education 26
3. Outside the State System: Khareji Madrasas 71
4. Changes from Within 126
5. The Future 167
Appendix 181
Bibliography 187
Index 190
viii (cid:1) Reading with Allah
Preface and Acknowledgements
This study was undertaken as part of the University Grants
Commission (UGC) Programme — ‘University with Potential
for Excellence’ — which was awarded to Jadavpur University
for the period 2003–2007. One part of the programme was to
conduct ‘Studies in Cultural Processes’ in the state; this study
is one of the sections.
The UGC team that visited the university in the wake of
the communal violence in Gujarat was clearly troubled by the
national situation. The members felt that enough research
was not being done on the social and cultural changes that are
happening around us. They believed that just as the dynamics
of communal violence need to be studied and analysed, it was
important to know why riots had not happened in West Bengal,
with its large minority population, the history of Partition and
millions of refugees from the East in 1947 and 1971. Researchers
have worked on several aspects of social and cultural change.
This part of the project specifically focussed on the issue
of minority educational institutions, the madrasas, in West
Bengal.
The person who suggested I conduct this part of the research
was our then Vice Chancellor, Professor Asoke Nath Basu. I am
grateful to him because the experiences of the last few years
have been unique and truly ‘learning’ experiences.
Many, many people have helped with knowledge, books,
contacts and by relating their own experiences. Of them, the
ones who must be mentioned are: Mursalin Mollah, all the
people, officials and staff of the West Bengal Board of Madrasah
Education, Dr Abdus Sattar, first as President of the Board and
later as Minister for Madrasah Education, Government of West
Bengal, Mainul Hassan, then Chairman, Minority Development
and Finance Corporation, Alamgir Hossain in Murshidabad,
Nayeem of Calcutta Girls College, and Siddiqulla Chaudhuri of
the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. Apart from these individuals, there
were others who gave us information, accompanied us on field
trips and contributed in many ways.