Bihar Ram Navmi clashes: British-era madrasa library bears brunt of violence

The charred shell of the library, which had hundreds of books on Quranic interpretations alone, was considered as formidable as Patna’s Khuda Baksh Oriental Public Library. Madrasa Azizia and Patna’s Shamsul Huda Madrasa are among Bihar’s two oldest madrasas. Set up by philanthropist Bibi Sogra in the memory of her husband Abdul Aziz in 1910, the madrasa started working to improve education in the community in 1920 following recognition by the then British government.

The Imam alleged, “I am an eyewitness to the events of March 31. The Ram Navami procession crossed the road close to the madrasa and the mosque. Both the buildings are located at some distance from Gagan Diwan, the place where the communal violence started. It seems the madrasa was deliberately targeted by hoodlums.”

Stating that the 18-room madrasa, which is spread over 3 acres, was attacked by more than 500 people, he continued, “The police arrived only two hours after the attack. By then, the fire had spread out of control. Fire tenders managed to extinguish the fire by next morning, but all the books and documents were gutted by that time.”

He said 300 students, ranging from those in class 1 to some who are pursuing postgraduate courses, study at the madrasa.

Mohammed Shaqir Qasmi, the principal of Madrasa Azizia, said the institution had 10 teaching and two non-teaching staff who receive salaries from the state government. Besides them, five employees get salaries from the Soghra Waqf Estate, considered one of the wealthiest waqf estates in Bihar with assets, including educational institutions, spread across Nalanda, Nawada, Sheikhpura, Patna, Muzaffarpur and Samastipur districts.

“Not a single book is in a recoverable state. We do not even have scanned copies of the books lost in the fire. It is a huge loss, not just for Nalanda, but also the field of Islamic studies,” rued Qasmi.

The madrasa, he recalled, had received special mention by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) during its team’s March 2020 visit. The visit was part of an interaction with students under an educational programme run by the Bihar State Madrasa Education Board.

Claiming that there had been an unsuccessful attempt to attack the madrasa in 2017 too, Qasmi said, “After the 1981 riots in Biharsharif, several families sold their houses and shops, and settled elsewhere. However, a sizable Muslim population still lives in the vicinity of the madrasa and the mosque.”

While the Bihar Police Headquarters did not specifically mention filing of a separate first information report (FIR) in the case of torching of the library, Nalanda Superintendent of Police Ashok Mishra said, “Separate FIRs are being filed for damage to public property and arrests are being made. So far, we have arrested 130 people in connection with the 15 FIRs lodged. We are still going through video footage and collecting other evidence to nail the other offenders.”

Bihar Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) J S Gangwar also dismissed rumours of people fleeing Nalanda after the communal violence.