On a cold winter evening in Nagri block of suburban Ranchi, 60-year-old Mohammad Mustafa peeps into a thatched hut about 100 meters off the Ranchi-Patratu highway. He walks in, and hands over a textbook, a notebook, four pencils and an eraser to the two children playing inside the hut.
“Do you send your children to school?” he asks their mother, only to be ignored. On repeating his words, Mustafa receives a disinterested nod of the head from the tribal woman, busy collecting sticks for bonfire to beat the winter chill. She happily accepts the gifts though.
Mustafa starts talking about the various government schemes for imparting free and compulsory education to children. “Education is a right for your children. They will get all the facilities, including books and uniform, from the government,” he continues. The woman listens to him for a while with a blank look on her face and then moves to the earthen fireplace.
Mustafa carries his bag, filled with books and pencils, and pushes his bicycle to the next hut to follow the drill.
Cut to Monday afternoon, Mustafa writes slogans highlighting the importance of education on a wall at Bariatu locality of the state capital.
“I have been doing this for more than 30 years. I go around the villages and slums writing slogans on walls encouraging people to send their children to school,” he said, adding that he also goes door-to-door and convinces parents to send their children to school.
Popularly known as Chun Chun Bhai, Mustafa has not only been running his crusade in Jharkhand, but also in parts of neighbouring West Bengal.
“If you ever go to Tikiapara near Howrah, you will notice that some of the walls near the Tikiapara Railway Station carry my slogans. I have also written slogans in Bangla there as people understand Bangla more than Hindi in Bengal,” he
said.
His journey, however, hasn’t been easy. He was chased out of many houses by families which thought he was trying to instigate their children against financially helping the family. The police too have slap fine on him for writing slogans on walls, but he didn’t give up.
A resident of Gudri slum in Ranchi, Mustafa started off as a tuition teacher for the poverty-stricken children of his locality. However, he soon realised that the issue of illiteracy plagued entire Jharkhand and he decided to start his own campaign to discourage child labour and encourage education for all.
Despite all his efforts for decades, he is yet to get any support from the government, he says. “I can fight this battle alone. But I am growing old, and there is so much work left. Who will run this campaign when I am gone?” he asks.
A graduate from Doranda College, Ranchi in History Honours, Mustafa has also requested the government to include him in promotion campaigns under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan.
Some of his slogans written on the walls say Aadha Pate Khayenge Par School Zarur Jayenge (Will eat half stomach, but continue going to school) and Purane Kapde Pehnenge Par Kitab Ke Liye Paise Bachayenge (Will wear old clothes, but save money for books).
Ranchi MLA CP Singh in 2011 handed over a Certificate lauding his charitable work in promotion of education in the state capital. He also received an award from Tata Steel for his work, but his dream of seeing every child in school still remains distant.
Walls of slums in Neori, Irba, Dhurwa, Gudri, Kutchehri and Islam Nagar areas of Ranchi carry several slogans written by Mustafa.