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Kashmir School Burns, Sparking Protest
A suspicious fire gutted Kashmir's oldest educational institution on Monday, destroying 30,000 rare books on Islam, including one of the world's oldest copies of the Quran. The 105-year-old Islamia school, covering grades 1-12, had earned a place in the region's history as a progressive institution that turned out many of the region's most prominent and influential people. It also had architectural value with its high arched windows and ceilings of cedar logs. The loss stunned people who poured into the streets of this city to protest the demise of a treasured institution. Some were so upset they shut down their shops. The blaze began soon after dawn and quickly consumed the building, witnesses said. Some of the school's 2,500 students first learned of the fire when they showed up for classes. The school was built in 1899 and is run by Anjuman-e-Nusrat-ul Islam (Society for the Victory of Islam), a religious and educational trust headed by Umar Farooq, the chief Muslim cleric in Kashmir. The school housed one of the oldest and rarest libraries on Islam, with some 30,000 books, including one of the rarest manuscripts of the Quran, handwritten by Usman bin Affan, the third "Righteous Caliph" of Islam. "We suspect mischief. It doesn't seem to be an accident," said senior police officer Javed Ahmad.
| But why would anybody burn down a national treasure? |
Farooq is also a top leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a political separatist grouping in Kashmir. Farooq, a moderate, has been targeted in recent months by suspected armed Islamic groups.
Farooq's uncle was shot while saying prayers at a mosque on May 29 and died of his wounds a week later. On the same day, Farooq's home was attacked with a grenade.
| And now they burned down his school. In Islamist circles, this is known as a frank intellectual exchange... |
The school was the first attempt to inculcate modern thinking in Kashmiri Muslim society that had been bogged down with dogma and superstitions. Even in the 20th century, it was among the first Muslim religious schools in Kashmir to teach in English, and offer science subjects.
Posted by: Fred 2004-07-05 |
