On Wednesday, the Jharkhand education department ordered an inquiry into the school in Lohardaga district over the matter of change of name from primary school to Urdu high school. The information was revealed by DC Dr. Waghmare Prasad Krishna who stated that the due orders have been given to the relevant authorities to investigate the alleged conversion of a primary school into an Urdu School. The primary school was later upgraded to a high school, but after that it mysteriously turned into Urdu High School.
The probe has been ordered after Jharkhand BJP MP Sudarshan Bhagat demanded an investigation into the case. The MP had stated that residents and parents had voiced concerns over the word Urdu, particularly in the context of Charhu Urdu High School. “They claim it was a normal school, but how quickly it transformed into an Urdu high school. We informed the department that the problem should be looked into”, he was quoted.
Jharkhand | Education department orders inquiry after name of a govt school allegedly changed from primary school to Urdu high school in Lohardaga district
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2022
“Orders have been given to investigate the matter,” says DC Dr Waghmare Prasad Krishna (19.07) pic.twitter.com/f98jIajUJQ
According to the reports, the controversy was first raised by Dhaneshwar Pandey who is a former panchayat representative, a villager of Charhu, and an alumnus of the school. He, who graduated from this school in 1976, claimed first that its name used to be a primary school while he was a student there. When he received his school certificate in 1976, there was no mention of an Urdu school on it. However, the school’s name has recently been changed to Urdu Vidyalaya and this has been done as a part of some conspiracy.
He had also presented his fifth standard school mark sheet dated 31 December 1976 to the BJP MP as a proof that the school was earlier a primary school and not an Urdu school. He reiterated that there was no mention of the word Urdu in his mark sheet. Hinting investigation and strict action, Pandey also demanded that the operations of the school be restored as before.
Meanwhile, the District Education Department officially recognized that the Government upgraded Urdu High School Charhu as an Urdu school. Additionally, it has been included among the district’s 18 Urdu schools. But now that a commotion has been created, the District Education Department has also begun further inquiry in the case.
Reports mention that the MP and villager Charles Hembram visited the Urdu High School in Charhu on Sunday, scanned the school records, and forwarded them to the District Education Department. The District Education Department has accordingly undertaken additional investigation.
It is important to mention that 33 government schools in Dumka, the hometown of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, have made several modifications in response to the whims of the local Muslim population in the area. They have converted to Urdu schools and the weekly offs have been changed from Sunday to Friday. Considering the media reports, the Department of School Education launched an inquiry into the matter.
DSE of Dumka, Sanjay Kumar Das had stated that an investigation is being conducted on how Urdu is tied to the institutions and under what conditions the weekly holiday on Friday is offered in govt schools. “There’s no instruction from dept to keep schools closed on Friday. After receiving the report, we’ll start an investigation,” Das had confirmed before the media.
