This Madarsa Has More Hindus

MALDA: Alif..be..te..se... At first glance, there is nothing out of the ordinary about this little girl memorizing Arabic letters in a madarsa. Only
that her name is Dipali Burman. And she is not alone — more than six in 10 students in Kasba Mahaso Makhduma High Madrasha are Hindus.

This madarsa, quite likely unique in the country, is 10 km east of Raigunj in North Dinajpur. The majority of the 1077 students on the rolls belong to non-Muslim communities. “Over 65% of the students here are Hindus,” said principal Md Golam Mostafa, who has been with the school since its inception in 1975.

“Out of the 76 students taking the High Madrasha (equivalent to Plus-II) examination this year, 46 are Hindus,” he added, proudly.

Established in the Hindu-majority area of Kamlabari Haat on land donated by Syed Abul Kasem, the madarsa has come a long way over the last three decades. “There were jungles all around, apart from a few huts here and there. When Abdul Kasem and Ansed Ali first talked of setting up the madarsa, many laughed at them,” said Mostafa. But the duo knew they were on the right path and went ahead with the school.

Situated 10 km east of Raigunj in North Dinajpur, the school started in 1975. And it didn't take long for people to understand its value. Locals, mostly belonging to the Rajbonshi community, had no other place to send their kids for education. The madarsa came as a saviour.

If it was a compulsion then, the situation is much different now. There are at least four high schools Hemtabad HS, Karnajora HS, Banglabari HS and Bahugram HS nearby but Hindu parents still prefer the madarsa. Those who pass out of this school look nowhere else for their children.

One such is Iswar Khan of Kamlabari, an alumnus, whose daughter Mampi is a Class V student of Kasba MM High Madrasha. "We never felt any hesitation while sending our children to this school, nor do we have any problem with the syllabus or teaching," said Khan.

But what do the students feel about pursuing Arabic, which is a compulsory subject? "It is simply another language, no harm in learning it," said students Rajat Tarafdar and Prabha Sarkar. Arabic teacher Md Ismail Kasem was beaming with pride. "Do you know who got the highest marks in Arabic the last time? It was Dipa Sarkar."