[Reader-list] Fwd: Azamgarh: District in discomfort

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TRIBUNE: Azamgarh: District in discomfort
Shahira Naim
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[Shahira Naim is a senior journalist serving as Special Correspondent
of The Tribune in Uttar Pradesh. Be welcome to send your comments to
her directly at: shahira at rediffmail.com ]


IT was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it
was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the
season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of
despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…

— Charles Dickens in Tale of Two Cities
These lines best describe the state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh's
Azamgarh district. For Azamgarh, being projected as the epicentre of
terrorism, things had just started looking up. In tune with the
changing milieu of post-liberalisation India, the youth from the
district were no longer jumping to grab a job in the Gulf. Instead of
earning their livelihood doing petty jobs in these countries, they
were in search of avenues in the lucrative service sector in the
country.

The latest trend was to do an English-speaking course, get computer
literate and do short-duration job-oriented management or other
professional courses being offered in the private sector in the
metropolitan cities. The final destination was to land a job in an MNC
or BPO.

"Our young men were easily finding jobs paying a salary of around Rs
20,000 in the cities. This had almost reversed the trend to go to the
Gulf in search of jobs," said Dr Iftekhar Ahmad, Principal of Shibli
National College.

Consequently, what was emerging was a visibly confident young
generation. This generation next youth was ably competing in the job
markets of Mumbai, Noida, Gurgaon and Delhi. The BPOs and MNCs were
giving employment to these youth purely on merit and regardless of
their regional or religious background.

A possible reversal of this heartening trend is worrying those who are
suspicious of a political conspiracy behind the recent turn of events
branding the entire Azamgarh district as the nursery of terrorism — a
term first used to describe Azamgarh by Gorakhpur firebrand Hindutva
leader and BJP Member of Parliament Yogi Adityanath.

Would the global MNC employers also succumb to this negative branding?
Would youth from the district still be whole-heartedly accepted by
employers, universities and professional colleges? With the police in
hot pursuit, even parents are having second thoughts in sending their
children to study outside the district.

As Maulana Juwaad, a wizened old man from Sanjarpur, says, "The whole
government machinery seems to be working towards Raj Thackeray's game
plan of sending people from Azamgarh back to their villages".
Azamgarh emerging as India's terror capital started on September 19
with the Delhi police staging the Batla House encounter. During the
encounter, it killed two alleged terrorists — Atif and Sajid. Both of
them belonged to Sanjarpur village, around 30 km from the district
headquarters.

Atif Amin had been staying in New Delhi for the last three years.
After getting a B Sc (IT) degree from Manipal University, he had
secured admission in the post-graduation course in Human Rights
Development in Jamia Millia Islamia.

Similarly, 17-year old Sajid had stepped out of Sanjarpur barely two
months ago to do an English-speaking course in Delhi. His identity
card from Shri Param Sant Jamunadas Inter College in Azamgarh shows
his date of birth as September 2, 1991. He had passed his Class Tenth
examination in 2008 and was enrolled for Class XI.

The Delhi police also arrested Saif from the flat in Batla House. He
also belongs to the same village. According to his father Shadab
Ahmad, Vice-President of the Azamgarh unit of the Samajwadi Party, he
wanted to do a good computer course from Delhi as he thought it would
open doors for a good job. Incidentally, the Samajwadi Party was quick
to disown Ahmad. No senior party functionary has cared to visit him.
"No I am not angry, just hurt," says Ahmad commenting on his party's
response.

Two more boys picked up by the Delhi police in connection with the
Delhi blasts belong to Azamgarh. Both Mohammad Shakil and
Zia-ur-Rahman are students of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi.
On September 23, a heavily armed team of Delhi's Anti-Terrorist Squad
(ATS) descended on Sanjarpur in the wee hours and raided the house of
four young boys — Sajid, Arif, Salman and Khalid — who, they claim,
were the absconding associates of Atif and Sajid. This Squad believes
them to be associates or sleeping modules.

Of these, two were studying in Lucknow. Arif was taking medical
coaching in Lucknow and preparing for the CPMT examination. Like most
boys of their age, Atif, Saif and Arif were also passionate about
cricket. In fact, Saif and Arif had even played up to the district
level. "Isn't it normal for boys from the same village to live
together? It took care of homesickness that a first-timer feels in a
big city like Delhi. Anyone going to Delhi for taking an examination
or job interview invariably stayed with them and is now on the police
radar", explained Tariq Shafiq, a social activist from Sanjarpur.

Even before the news of the encounter, arrests and raids could sink in
Mumbai police made another round of disclosures. On September 24, the
Mumbai police arrested five young men all belonging to Azamgarh.
Claiming to have delivered a body blow to the Indian Mujahidden,
Mumbai's Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rakesh Maria
asserted that the five persons were part of the Indian Mujahidden's
think-tank and assisted or participated in all incidents where blasts
happened or unexploded bombs were found in the country since 2005.

The net result of the police operations has been that hundreds of
young boys and girls from Azamgarh studying in various colleges in
Delhi, Aligarh, Lucknow and elsewhere have switched off their mobile
phones. Their parents have no news of them. Some of them had booked
their tickets to celebrate Eid with their families at home. Now no one
knows if they would come at all. The uncertainty hanging in the air is
mind numbing.

Since the Batla House encounter, newspapers and channels are competing
with one another to run stories toeing the "Azamgarh nursery of
terrorism" line, a description that makes people from the district
cringe.

Too hard hit to challenge these allegations, an average Azamgarhi or
Azmi as they call themselves, is extremely angry with the media for
believing every word the police is saying. "Nowadays, it's common for
the media to be skeptical of police encounters and custodial deaths.
But in the case of terrorism in general and Azamgarh in particular,
the media is more than willing to swallow hook line and sinker
whatever fabrication is being churned out by the police", said Umair
Siddiq Nadwi, Editor of Marif, an academic publication brought out by
the prestigious Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy in Azamgarh.

The legacy of Allama Shibli Nomani holds no significance in the
changed environment. This writer, poet, historian, teacher and
nationalist had set up the Shibli Academy, a leading centre of Islamic
learning. Similarly, many can still recall a poem learnt in school
about Rana Pratap's horse Chetak. Few know that its writer Shyam
Narain Pandey also hailed from Azamgarh.

In these dark times, the media is in no mood to remember the
contribution of Rahul Sanshkrityayan, Ayodhya Prasad Hari Oudh, Kaifi
Azmi, Shamsur Rahman Farooqui or Shabana Azmi.
It is only interested in playing up the fact that Dawood Ibrahim's
relatives live in Azamgarh. That Abu Salem belongs to Sarai Mir. That
Abu Bashar, the so-called mastermind of the Ahmedabad blasts, belongs
to Binapara, a village not far from Sarai Mir.

What probably means little to the media is that the district has
produced many celebrities. Incidentally Uttar Pradesh Principal
Secretary (Home) Kunwar Fateh Bahadur and the Additional
Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Brijlal, the two top law
enforcement officials, are also from Azamgarh. Even the high profile
Samajwadi party leader Amar Singh originally belongs to the district.

What has never hit the headlines is the fact that the district has the
highest sex ratio of 1026 females in Uttar Pradesh. And this is not
due to men going out in search of livelihoods as even the under six
sex ratio is an impressive 949!

Despite having one of the highest literacy rates in the state (overall
57 per cent, male 71 per cent and female 42 per cent), Azamgarh having
a population of about 40 lakh does not have a single university,
engineering college or medical college. Students have no option but to
go elsewhere to pursue a higher degree and professional course.

Despite perceptions to the contrary, the madarsas have made an
important contribution to the relatively strong literacy standard of
the district. Most of them now impart modern education along with
religious guidance. For example, in Uttar Pradesh villages where it is
difficult to come across a girl who has passed Class XII, it was
surprising to learn that Sanjarpur, painted as the den of terrorists
by the media, has no less than 50 women post-graduates!

Something that the world perhaps needs to know is that the district
being projected as the centre of religious orthodoxy was founded in
1665 by Azam, son of Vikramajit, a descendant of Gautam Rajputs of
Mehnagar in pargana Nizamabad.

According to the official website, Vikramajit like some of his
predecessors embraced Islam, married a Muslim woman who bore him two
sons, Azam and Azmat. While Azam gave his name to the town of
Azamgarh, his brother Azmat constructed a fort and settled the bazaar
of Azmatgarh in pargana Sagri.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha election next year, the Intelligence
Bureau-police-media combine is causing a polarisation not only in
Azamgarh but across the nation that suits the Hindutva brigade. In the
name of internal security and combating terrorism, an alarming
minority bashing and stereotyping is taking place.

However, things are slowly changing for the better and that is
providing a flicker of hope. Jamia Millia Islamia Vice-Chancellor
Mushirul Hasan's decision to provide legal aid to two university
students picked up by the Delhi police was, perhaps, the first step.
Dr Hasan also took the initiative to hold a counseling session for the
traumatised students from the districts living in New Delhi's Jamia
Nagar.

Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav urging the media not to
brand the entire district as terrorist has worked like balm for the
wounded souls of the people of the district. "Some may have strayed
but why malign every single person from the district?", said Yadav.

And now the National Human Rights Commission's notice to Delhi police
raising questions regarding the Batla House encounter has provided
some solace to the people. They hope that in the coming days Azamgarh
would substantially reclaim its lost reputation.


Originally published in THE TRIBUNE , on Sunday, 5 October 2008.


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