Principal of Madarsa Anwarul-Uloom in Shyam Nagar slums, who had approached the State Human Rights Commission on Thursday, to file complaint against the Bhopal municipal Corporation (BMC) for not constructing the Madarsa building, had to return empty-handed.
Instead of registering Principal Anwar Ahmed’s complaint regarding the callous attitude of the BMC that has turned a blind eye on the madarsa after demolishing it seven years ago, he was asked to get some necessary documents from BMC officials.
Anwar Ahmed told The Pioneer that he approached the Commission on Thursday to lodge a complaint against the BMC for its discriminatory attitude towards the Madarsa, however, SHRC Registrar HP Dubey returned him without registering the complaint.
“The Registrar asked to attach along with the application a copy of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project in Shyam Nagar under which the original building of the Madarsa was demolished by the BMC,” he informed.
“The registrar said that if there is a provision for schools in the DPR, then our case against the BMC would become stronger,” the Principal said, hesitatingly adding that it would not be easy to get a copy of the DPR from BMC.
Notably, the Protection of Human Rights Act states that SHRC has sufficient powers to direct the authorities to submit before the Commission any desired document.
However, the Registrar found it more suitable to direct the applicant himself to arrange for the DPR and returned him on this pretext, knowing very well that the applicant is already being harassed by the BMC and it is likely to dilly-dally further in providing the DPR.
The Registrar refused to talk on the ground that he was traveling to Indore.
Notably, The Pioneer had raised the issue, in its April 13 edition. Madarsa Anwarul-Uloom in SHyam Nagar is currently being run in a dilapidated shed that was provided by the BMC in 2010, after having demolished the buildings of Madarsa and two other private schools in 2006 for construction of houses under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM).
The private schools have already been provided with new buildings two years ago, but the Madarsa has been ignored despite repeated applications and petitions by the Principal. At present, 55 students study at the Madarsa whose life is endangered due to the poor condition of the shed in which it is run.