a false alarm

the inside story of Insan School

BY

DR. EQUBAL WAJID

1. Prologue 2. When I joined 3. Abnormal Cases 4. More abnormal cases 5. Apple of the eyes 6. At Bahadurganj 7. Failed to marry 8. Tomato 9. 14 November
th

2 5 12 17 24 31 35 41 46 52 61 66 72 79 85 93 98 103 108 114 118 123 128 133 136 141

10. Insan College 11. Insan University 12. Dead body of Hasan Imam 13. ITWA /Poor planners 14. Salary System 15. Hazratji on Notice Register 16. 4 months in Assam 17. Land for Airport 18. Low quality of shroud 19. Akhlaqur Rehman Qidwai 20. Fire 21. Jamia to America 22. Clinical Psychology 23. Interpretations of dreams 24. Lecturers as cook 25. Physical Assault 26. Use of Negative Psychology 2

27. Hidden agenda 28. AMU Extension Centre 29. Image as a Patriot 30. Nigar De Mall

147 152 161 166

1. Prologue
Kishanganj, the old and important sub-division of Purina District came to existence as a new District of Bihar on 14th January 1990 after the long and hard struggle from people of Kishanganj including Social Workers, Politicians, Journalist, Businessmen and Farmers. Kishanganj has an average height of 42 meters (137 feet) from the sea level. The Ramzan River crosses through the middle of the town, which includes more magnetism to the beauty of the city. This is the end point of Bihar in the north-east direction. It's one of the most sensitive districts of India, as the borders of this district are touching the border of Bangladesh and Nepal in south-east and north directions respectively. This is one of the places in India where one can find the Muslims in majority. As per the statistics 60% of population is Muslim. The language of Kishanganj is SURJAPURI. Kishanganj is one of the most illiterate Districts in India. Its large proportion of people depend on agriculture. 3

As of 2001 Indias census, Kishanganj had a population of 1294063. Males add up to 54% of the population and females 46%. Kishanganj has an average literacy rate of 32%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 70%, and female literacy is 18%. In Kishanganj, 18% of the population is under 6 years of age. Kishanganj also has the lowest female literacy rate in India. According the figures Kishanganj has a major railhead which is connected to major cities and towns of India. It comes under Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) and NH31. These two routes are connecting northeastern region of India to the rest of India. It has direct train connected to majority of major cities namely New Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore, Chennai, Tirvenderum etc. Garib Nawaz Express starts from here for Ajmer. Rajdhani Express which runs between Delhi and Guwahati has its stoppage in Kishanganj. The National Highway No.-31, India's one of the important and busiest Highways runs along with the railway line. Kishanganj is also accessible by Air; the Bagdogra Airport is 90 kms away. Ginger, Turmeric, and Garlic are the main cash crops. Kishanganj is well-known for its diversified range of industries. These include: Plywood, Tea Processing Plants, Poultry Farming and Silk. During the Mughal period Kishanganj district was the part of Nepal and was known as Nepalgarh. The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam appointed Mohammed Raza at Surajapur for administration. Md. Raza captured the fort of Nepalgarh and name gets converted to Alamganj and thus administration shifted to Khagra. The Historical KHAGRA MELA is held every year at Khagra, Kishanganj. 4

Animal husbandry is another main economic activity of this district. With adequate support from Government institutions this region has grown into a bustling commercial hub.

2. When I joined
On March 2nd 1979, when I joined Insan School Kishanganj, at the age of 23 to work as a High School Teacher, I never thought that I am going to work with the Founder of such an Intuition, who, in due course, will be awarded the National Padamshree award. Padamshree Dr. Syed Hassan a disciple of Dr. Zakir Hussain the former President of India and Professor Mohammad Mujeeb, the Ex-Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, founded this Institution in 1966 in this remote area of north-east Bihar. Now Kishanganj is a well known District of Bihar as it is a Muslim dominated vote bank for the politicians too. Mr. Syed Shahabuddin, [IFS Rtd], President of Muslim Majlis Mushawarat and the Convener of the Babri Masjid action committee has also won his Parliament seat twice from Kishanganj. The veteran journalist M. J. Akbar was also been the victor of the Parliament seat from Kishanganj on the aspiration of the former Prime Minister of India Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. Now a days, a notable white whiskered Muslim cleric and son of the 7

soil Maullana Israrul Haque Quasmi, is the sitting Member of Parliament from Kishanganj. Padamshree Dr. Syed Hassan graduated from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi in the year 1946. Mr. Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai the former Governor of Bihar and the Ex-Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission of India was among his seniors in Jamia Millia Islamia in primary school. After his graduation he was appointed as a primary teacher in Jamia Millia Islamia and soon he was sent to USA on a student-Visa. He took his MS degree in Education and later on he won his PhD degree in Educational Psychology. In 1964 he was awarded the Instructor of the year award in the State College of Forsberg, USA. At the same time he resigned and came back to India to serve his own Nation. He started a residential School at Kishanganj in 1966 which later become the Institution of National repute. While Mr. Syed Shahabuddin was the sitting MP of Kishanganj, once he wrote in a letter addressed to the members of the School Committee. I regard these institutions as a National and Local asset and a model for the country. Many big politicians of both State and National levels honored the works of Padamshree Dr. Syed Hassan who was the only supremo of this institution. Mr. Karpuri Thakur then the Chief Minister of Bihar was one of them. In 1978 when Mr.Karpuri Thakur visited Insan School for the first time he became crazy of it. When he saw the arrangements and discipline of the School, he said in his speech that the soul of Mahatma Gandhi visualizes within Dr. Syed Hassan. Later on Karpuri Thakur nominated Dr. Syed Hassan as a State level member of the Steering Committee of the Adult Education Department. Dr. Syed Hasan started and run almost about 300 Adult Education Centers in the locality. The Instructors of the centers were being paid by the Insan 8

School voluntarily. Step by step, Dr. Syed Hassans repute and fame reached at Delhi. Once, Mr. Anil Bordia, who was then the Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Human Resource Development Government of India, met Dr. Syed Hasan in an Adult Education Meeting headed by the Chief Minister. On his turn during introduction in the meeting Dr. Syed Hasan stood up and said Syed Hasan: Insan School: Kishanganj: Purnea. As the chief Minister heard him he called him and made him sit upon the dice. The attendees were astonished as Karpuri Thakur started singing the lines of the anthem of Insan School from the dice: Insan banege hum Insan banaey ge Jine ke tariqe ab seekhen ge sikhaien gge In his speech the Chief Minister praised this institution and asked the attendees to go to Kishanganj and see the institution. Mr. Anil Bordia was much impressed. He came to visit Insan School from Patna by road without any prior information and said: I am ahead of my schedule! It was a rainy season the bewildering clouds had covered the sky whilst it was raining slightly when the Additional Secretary of the Government of India took an umbrella and stepped up to take a glance of the School campus in mud and rain. I was also following them. The additional Secretary twisted up his paint slightly and moved from campus to campus. He started his walkdown from the Head office Building, crossed the High school play ground, passed across the middle School Campus and then he took a glance of the College Campus. After a short visit Mr. Anil Bordia left for Patna and then to Delhi. When Anil Bordia was about to leave the campus the District Education Officer of Purnea, got the smell and rushed to Insan School to see him. 9

Fortunately he met Mr. Anil Bordia at the school's gate for few minutes. And so on, slowly day after days my golden 15 years rolled on. When for the first time I was going to join the institution I had heard about Dr. Syed Hassan that he is an educationist and psychologist. By my instinct which was ever thirsty for intellectuality I slowly became fond of him. When I met him for the first time I was not much impressed as he was not as much out spoken, rather than a man of strength and of serious nature. I saw him second time in the staff meeting where he was trying to motivate the staff to be enthusiastic for the cause of education. It was a big hall made of bamboos and straws and near about 120 staff was there. I sat in the last row. The meeting was about to over. Suddenly I saw Dr. Syed Hassan dancing in a rhythmic way twisting and bending him left and right when he read a famous couplet of the notable Urdu poet Allama Iqbal. Aaa tujh ko batata hun taqdeer e umum kiya hai Shamseer o Sana awwal taoos o rubaab aakhir [Come! and I will tell exactly what the fate of this Muslim Ummah is; it is! the sword and blade first; and the throne and viol later ] While reciting this Urdu couplet he twisted himself waving his hands in the air in such a rhythmic way that I became fond of him. I decided to work with him and learn from him whatever I can. This was my start in Insan School. Although we were being paid a little amount, but the company of Dr. Syed Hassan was much more valuable for us than money. Some of the teachers always like to be with him in their leisure hours. The School was always scheduled to run from morning to noon throughout the year. In the evening the office was always opened voluntarily up to 09 oclock. Some of the teachers were regular visitors of the 10

evening session. I was also one of them. Mr.Jehangir Malick and Maullana Nayeemuddin Quami were also among the evening visitors. All we do in the evening was nothing but listen to Dr. Syed Hassan, about his experiences in Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and in United States. This was our best entertainment. I regard Dr. Syed Hassan as the best teacher I ever saw. He is the hero of the class rooms. He had been the winner of his class, both in United States and in India. When Dr. Syed Hassan was in the classroom as a Teacher nobody can sit idle or dull. He created such interest in the class room which I never imagined. When I was appointed as a Lecturer in Urdu Department of Insan College in October 1980; [an up gradation of Insan School] Dr. Syed Hasan use to teach Urdu to the students of my class. I use to sit in the back row and watch minutely what Dr. Syed Hasan actually does. He taught few poems form the famous poetic collection of Allama Iqbal Baang e Dara the poems Mahe Nau Khizr e Raah Naya Shiwala. Some of our friends were surprised to see this; they believe that when Dr. Syed Hasan will teach a lesson to a class, nobody, anymore, can carry out the interest created by him. Secondly, when the students will compare the teaching of Syed Hasan with a teacher, they will undermine their teachers as they may fail to create such interests. Surely it was my love and regard to Dr. Syed Hasan that I resisted all these ill feelings and learned the art of teaching with that great teacher in my own class. The second most important thing with him was the quality to treat emotionally disturbed people. Off-course he was an eminent Psychologist. I have seen many such cases that have been returned uncured from the Mental Asylum of Ranchi, Bihar, got cured completely when they come under his treatment. In comparison to other teachers I always use to spend my time whenever I saw any new or old patient with him. Dr. Syed Hasans way of treatment was based on psychotherapy. He used 11

to cure his patients through conversations. To my belief, I often felt confidence to talk to the patients and in my Vacation when I use to come home I handled some of such cases successfully. Though; I dont have any kind of degree in this field but I am confident enough in psychotherapy. When I was in Mumbai in 1995, I met with Dr. Abdul Kareem Naik [Father of the Veteran Islamic Technocrat Dr. Zakir Naik] and I explained him my interest in Psychotherapy but he didnt give me any chance to handle or assist such cases. Dr. Abdul Kareem Naik is himself a renowned Psychiatrist who has a strong back ground in Psychotherapy, as he had been the President of the All India Psychiatry Society for two or three times. Padamshree Dr. Syed Hassan has worked voluntarily as a Psychologist for a long time. By the grace of Allah many people got cured of his therapy free of cost. He never took a single anna from any one for this service. Rather than he bore the food and residential expenses of the patients and their attendants. The first case which I saw was a young man named Santosh. He was a local Hindu Bengali, from a poor family. During his treatment he climbed upon the roof of the School Bakery and started throwing its tiles one by one. Dr. Syed Hasan asked nobody to stop him. He seemed to stand idle during this act; he was helping him to feel support. This was a treatment of its own kind to which Dr. Syed Hassan use to speak as Supportive Psychotherapy. After half an hour Santosh was cooled down and he himself stepped down of the roof and sat peacefully in a corner and in due course we saw that he became a normal man who later also worked as an employee of the institution.

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3. Abnormal Cases
The second abnormal case which I saw at Insan School was of a Hindu sage. He stopped speaking and eating and declared that he is the God. He remained quite mute, never speaking even a single word. Dr. Syed Hasan was trying his best to compel him to speak. It was a very interesting scene. It was a challenge for Dr. Syed Hasan to motivate and compel the mad Sage to utter something. It seemed that the Sage was determined to keep himself mum. Dr. Syed Hasan tried his best, but the Sage remained quite. After a long struggle the Sage spoke: "Bagwan khate haein?" [Does Bhagwan [God] eat?] 14

"Bhagwan nahien kkhate haien magar hum log to kahte haien, is liye ke huam log Insan haien" [Bhagwan [God] doesnt eat but we do eat, as we are human beings] asked Dr. Syed Hasan. No answer. Bhagwan [God] doesnt eat but we do eat, as we are human beings repeated Dr. Syed Hasan again but there was no answer again from the other side. Silence continued. Syed Hasan tried his best. In the mean time few school students who came across the scene stopped to see the mad man. Dr. Hasan used this situation as a support to his therapy as he correlated the presence of the students with the whole situation and pretended as to fell down up the ground. It made the mad Sage to laugh. Dr. Hasan was very happy as hope arose that he may get excess into the complexities of this man. He smiled with a feeling of success. He looked at us as he wanted to know our comments. We displayed such face impressions as yes-men use to do. Our faces were showing curiosity to know more about the case. Later on I went to my class as it was 11 am and the classes were going on. I never saw the sage again. I thought he may have been cured after the short therapy. Sometimes we see Dr. Syed Hasan much keen to explain his action. It mostly happened with the intention to teach the teachers and enrich their experiences. While teaching, I had been assigned the task to edit the School weekly newspaper Insan Weekly in Urdu and a Fortnightly newspaper of the Adult Education Department named Anparh. I was the editor of the two news papers which were being printed in the local Mehboob Press. I had been assigned a separate Office with an assistant. I forgot his name, but I remember that my assistant was a local man from a rural area. He had small 15

trimmed beard, and remained always in a silent mood. He used to speak a little with me. He always did whatever job I assigned him. He never became close to me even after I tried a lot. His hand-writing of Urdu was better than me. I felt proud that I had a personal assistant. My colleagues were also jealous to see my Office and the assistant. Just after a month or half the man left the job and never returned. Only then I came to know that he didnt come to Insan School to work but to be cured. He was a mental patient. I dont know whether now a day he is alive or not but I pray Allah to forgive his sin. He was a serious and mysterious gentleman. More abnormal cases were handled by Dr. Syed Hasan when we happen to be in our classes in the working hours or taking rest in hostels. So I always felt loss when some of those cases were treated by Dr. Syed Hasan in my absence. In the evening or in the day walking in the school campus we see some mental cases moving alone unattended and sometimes with their attendants but we dont know their case history. The patients were allowed to move freely in the School Campus without any kind of restrictions. They were fed and allotted beds to rest with their attendants free of cost. Nobody teases or makes joke with them. A young married girl from a local village 3 km in the west from Kishanganj became mad. Her case was very serious as she often became violent. Crying loudly, running very fast in the campus, singing songs, Naats [poems written in admiration to Prophet Mohammad, Peace be on Him] and the Verses of the Holy Quran. Her husband was a small farmer and he also had some part time job in an office somewhere at Kishanganj. Her husband was of a polite nature. She was an educated girl in comparison to the status of the locality. Why she became mad was unknown. I believe that Dr. Syed Hasan may have reached the core of the case but he didnt spoke to us anything about her. I assumed from his silence that she may have been sexually abused by any of her close relatives against her will. Most probably some 16

respectable relative such as elder brother of her husband, her father in law, the uncle of her husband etc. Because she had a religious consciousness so it may had lead her to a severe guilt feeling and as a suppressed reaction to this guilt feeling she would have lost her emotional balance. Some of my close mates discussed the case with me and said they believe that this was a case of overpowering of Ghosts. The girl became normal, but her abnormality repeated continuingly after each four or five months. We saw her three or four times in a year. As she was as young, merely at the age of 20 or little more, so it was difficult to let her stay in the campus at night except in strong supervision. I remember one gentleman Mr. S from the village Noorpur of Beagusarai District. Bihar, who resigned a Government job and fight for the MP election and was badly defeated. They said that he won only 28 votes in total. After some time he lost his emotional balance. This was a border line case. His abnormality was not obvious to all but only to the Psychologists and family members. He stayed in the School Campus for few months. He became very close to me. He had a philosophical mind. He was a well read person. He was a serious thinker of Cosmology. I use to listen and learn from him many things. As a part of his therapy he had been assigned to take some classes in the high school. The student took his class as recreation periods. It was 1980 and I was already appointed as a Lecturer in Urdu in the newly upgraded Insan School, which was now also called Insan College. The person in my above description use to say that there are only two tenses, the Past, and the Future tense. He was virtually the denier of the existence of the present. He used to say that the present is so short that we cannot account for it as time. I also remember his definition of Tense. It was winter and there were arrangements in the open for classes. Mr. S was assigned a class as a part to his treatment. He had to teach English grammar, he wrote on the black board: 17

Tense is an extended period of time .. then he began to explain it to the students. The students of class Xth were astonished to know the new definition. They enjoyed a lot with this man. Later on when he returned to normal he went back to his house. When he left the campus I felt sorrow. Years have passed and I have never heard about him again. I am not sure whether he is alive or not, but I assume that he may have died as if he was in his forties in 1980. If I would have seen him it would have been a matter of joy for us. An important thing that I learned from Mr.S was a question which was killing me from a long time due to my own ignorance. There was a lesson in the IXth class text book about universe starting from the sentence The universe is unlimited.. I asked may people how it is possible for the universe to be unlimited when God exists. Where will be the place for God, the Hell and the Paradise? I was much disturbed by this question, but nobody helped me. There was no such reading material that I could have consulted with. Once Mr.S was talking to me, he told that the universe is limited. I screamed with joy: How? Then he simply drew a circle with his finger upon the earth and said: Like this !

I was too happy by the answer that I am unable to say. In fact it was the answer to which I was searching for, I am still thankful to God that he gave me an answer to my question through the lips of Mr. S and freed me from my tension. After 20 years when I saw Stephen Hawkinss book 'A brief history of time' it revealed on me that the scientist is of the same idea that the universe is limited and expanding.

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4. More abnormal cases

Mr. G was the son of a Deputy Superintendent of Police. He had been trying his fate for IAS [Indian Administrative Service] exams. He had been very fluent in English. He used to speak correct and literary English without grammatical errors. He was a young, handsome, tall and smart fellow. He was living with his father in White House at Gaya. Due to reasons unknown some severe symptoms of depressions were noticed in him. He was the eldest among his brothers. He also spent some time in Tableeghi Jamat and was fond of the famous Spritual Guru of Bihar Hazrat Maullana Zulfiqar Sahab. Mr. G use to go to meet Hazrat at his stay point in Chatra Hazaribagh, District of Bihar. He had a long beard. All of his brothers were living in modern style; they were 19

all clean shaved except the father who had trimmed beard. It was my vacation days in Gaya, I went to meet Mr. Mohammad Shees the younger brother of Dr. Syed Hasan who was posted in Gaya as an Executive Engineer and was a tenant in the house of the Deputy Superintendent of Police. Mr. Shees introduced Mr. G to me and asked my opinion whether he should bring him to Kishanganj for some treatment. In my opinion it was not still too late to bring him for treatment. When I reached Insan School after my vacation, a few days later I found Mr. G walking in the campus. I met him and greeted him. He was looking normal. He uses to talk about Islam. He had memorized more verses of Quran which he uses to quote in his talk. I saw Dr. Syed Hasan dealing with him. As a part of his therapy Dr. Syed Hasan asked his opinion about the School. He answered: It looks like an asylum. This inspired Dr. Syed Hasan to assume that his abnormality has not approaching the danger level, as Mr. G was conscience about the situation he was passing through. When a mental patient seems to be conscience to the situation he suffers, it means he is getting healed. So in case of Mr. G it was a disguised expression of a slight Psychosomatic Disorder which may occurred to him due to the lack of appreciation by his parents and by his colleagues. He may have faced depression due to the failure in the competitive exams or he may have become unfaithful for his success in IAS. Mr. G stayed in the school campus for his treatment approximately for a week. Then he went back to his home. After three or four years of interval he came to Kishanganj as a collector of Zakat [charitable money] for Madaris [Religious Schools]. He doesnt hesitate to ask people for money. He told me that I am doing this job for the purification of my self. The 20

self doesnt like this kind of job. So I am doing it only to trim myself and to oppose my conscience-choice. After a long gap I heard that his wife divorced him, and his life is running in miseries. I am of the mind that the madness of a mad can be cured but the madness of a normal man cannot be cured in full. I remember a boy in his sixteen uses to become such violent that it was much difficult to control him. Even he couldnt be overpowered by four or five men. He uses to burst out alternatively after each two or three days. As a part of his treatment he was told that he has been admitted in class IX th. He was allotted a seat in the hostel. All the students and teachers knew that he was not a student but a mental patient. Continuously for seven to ten days he behaved like a normal student. But at the eighth or tenth day he became as much violent. Nobody was able to overpower him. Suddenly he disappeared from the school. Next day news spread in the locality that a young boy was found half murdered along the Highway and was brought to a local West Bengal Government Hospital. The reporters said that he may be alive or may not as someone has attempted to kill him with some kind of sharp weapon like axe. He had cut-injuries in his head, hands, and body. Immediately I wrote a letter to his father who was in Gaya 400 km away from Kishanganj, as there was no way to contact him through any other means. Anyhow his father came after four or five days and took his child back to his home. The story of that boys ends in Insan School, but I came to know that he was living with his parent in Gaya. The latest news I got about him that he disappeared mysteriously from his house and never returned. More than four or five years have passed on. The abnormal cases were coming to Insan School so frequently that if any new appointment was made on, the staff had to confirm with Dr. Syed Hasan whether this new hire is a mental 21

patient or a real working staff. Even after his confirmation some never believe. In short; I got practical knowledge of Psychotherapy from Dr. Syed Hasan by my own interest. I even used this knowledge sometimes in my area. Two abnormal cases got cured by my therapy in my locality. The first, belongs to a farmer who was in his forties, became completely mad. He also became violent. When I went to see him on the request of my brother-in-law- Dr. Sahamsul Bari in his village Ramdeo I saw him holding a big rod in his hand and running to and fro. He pretended to hit everyone by his rod who stared at him. It was the village Ramdeo, situated beside the National Highway 31 [Patna Ranchi Road] between Nawadah and Rajauli. Women, children, young, and old men were looking at him. He was running after all, one by one. He hit the roof of a small room and damaged it. By the time I saw him. He also stared at me. I was little afraid because he had a rod in his hand. Then I cried loudly: OK, OK .good . very good.. All right.all right, yes ..yes all right.. You are right.. Very good, very good . Soon after my call he came closer to me. Now I and the patient were standing together at one side and the villagers on the other. Through supportive psychotherapy I gained his confidence on me and motivated him to sit with me. I later went to his house, when the patient saw his wife he started abusing her. While abusing her he was repeatedly telling about some typical smell which resembled the smell of semen. His wife looks sexy, a woman in her thirties who had plain impression on her face, as if she has no problem if her husband is mad. The patient Mr. C was abusing her continuously. Through his abuse, repeatedly pointing on a smell resembled to the smell of semen and the plain impression on her wifes face I assumed that the reason behind 22

his madness was simple. One day, probably as it was happened that Mr. C entered into his house in the evening. The sun was set and it was dark. He saw some body coming out of the room of her wife. He was sure that the man has fucked his wife. He was over sure when he saw signs of sweats shining on her forehead, her hair were scattered and what is more that he got the smell of semen coming out of her sari. This caused bad effects on his mind and he became mad. How he was cured, is that I indirectly through Psychotherapy forced him to resist this happening. I forced him to take it lightly and resist his feelings. He was a Hindu by caste. It took four or five days that he returned to normalcy. He was quite well. Later on he passed a normal life in his village. Whenever he met me he laughed with love. After the happening he never became abnormal and escorted a normal life. One more abnormal case which I handled was of a girl in my wifes village. It was a small village in the Aurangabad District of Bihar named Bela Waris. I was there in my vacation. I was sitting with my father-in-law Syed Masood Ahmed Fatmi who had been an elected Mukhiya of the Punchayat for over 40 years. My wife came to know that a young girl, daughter of a tailor in the same village became mad. My wife told my mother-in-law to let me handle the case. The girl was brought to me. She was singing some poems loudly. She was not caring for her covering which got down of her head. She sat in front of me but was not attentive. Through a supportive Psychotherapy I motivated her to feel that I am her well wisher. Then she started talking with me and answered me properly. I choose to talk to her on many topics of her interest. I asked her how many dresses she has, what are their colors, who brought them to her? Has she any ornaments? What types of cosmetics she uses? I asked her which of her dresses she likes much. What is its design and color? I also told her to wear her favorite dress in my next meeting. 23

Next day the girl came in the evening with a little consciousness. My fatherin-law Syed Masood Ahmed Fatmi was surprised to see the positive change in the girl. He told me that she is 40% cured. Next day I called her father and asked him to manage a big mirror for her. I told him that he should regard my prescription just as he regards a medical prescription. So a big mirror was arranged for her and she was asked to sit before the mirror most of the time. She practiced it for few days and then by the grace of Allah returned to her normal state. Her case history Allah knows better but up to my knowledge and belief what I concluded is that she was a young girl and people use to say that she is ugly. She had an elder brother, who was supposed to get marry in exchange. This was her biggest hope that she will be married on the condition that her brother will marry someones sister in exchange. Indecently her elder brother got married by his own choice and the girl became pessimistic about her marriage. Somebody may have told her that now she will not be married because she is black and her brother cannot help her. What I did was nothing but created a self awareness in her. She doesnt have any big mirror in her house and was ignorant of her beautiful youth. As she began to watch her whole body in the mirror a self praising sense inhaled in her conscience that she is young and beautiful, although not as much beautiful but also not as worse. During our conversation I also tried to inhale a feeling into her that she is attractive. Her father was much thankful to me as I did all of this without any charge. It is offcourse a matter of annoyance for me that having as much practical experiences and confidence in Psychotherapy I never dare to run a mental clinic of my own only due to the lack of means. I am filled with the feelings of gratitude to the Institution where I got such kind of experiences which I could have never gained anywhere else.

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5. Apple of the eyes

After my M.A. results in Urdu literature from Magadh University Bodh Gaya in 1978, I was sitting idle at my house at Rajhat, District Nawadah and was planning for the future. There was no one to help me in my future plan. It was darkness everywhere. My elder brother Late Syed Sultan Ahmed, who was a Government servant, helped me partially in my education throughout in my College and University years but after completing the M.A. there was no hope from any side. The most important thing was to earn something for the lively hood. In those gloomy days once I got a letter from Mr Sarwar Usmani, a poet and Editor of a literary Urdu Magazine Mafaheem [published form Gaya] to come and join him to work in his Magazine. It was perhaps December 1978; he settled my daily food in a nearby hotel in Karimganj Mohalla and assured me to give 150 rupees per month on hand as my salary. Prof Taaj Anwer, Deptt of Urdu Miraza Ghalib College Gaya, Farhat Quadri [Poet] and Haque Azmi [poet] were taken in the editorial team. They use to sit in the office in the evening. Professor Taaj Anwer always used to ask me why I always look gloomy. I told 26

him there is nothing wrong but now at the moment when I am writing these lines after 30 years I realize that he was right. It was the worries of the unplanned and unsecured future that was noticeable from my face. After working for few months with Mr. Sarwar Usmani in Gaya once I came home to meet my aunty Asghari who had come from Pakistan. I had never seen her before so I went to see her at my village Rajhat. My uncle Mr. Syed Mojeebur Rahman who is still like my next-guardian asked me whether I shall like to work in Insan School. I told him you are asking in such a way as it seems that it is just in your hand. He repeated again: I ask you; whether you would like to work there or not? I answered: You know that I am earning only 150 rupees in a private publication house? . . Dont you? OK.be ready go to Insan School, I will give you a letter, hand it to Syed Bhai and he will do something for you. He said. I was still surprised on the confidence of my uncle because I had heard and read about Insan School and I was of the mind that how a non B.Ed can be appointed as a High School teacher. In 1977, I had read an article titled Insan School: an experiment written by Ozair Ehtasham Siddiqi in Aaaj Kal the reputed Urdu Magazine published from Delhi in its January issue. It helped me to cause my first inception about Insan School. My uncle suggested me to go there and work and then save time for the preparation of Bihar Public Service Commission Examinations. Later on I left the idea of appearing in the BPSC exams due to lack of proper means and never appeared even a single time. 27

I decided to go to Kishanganj. Next day, I came from Nawadah to Smastipur Railway Station by road and then boarded a train for Kishanganj in the evening and reached there the next morning. It was the longest trip in my life. I had never travelled so far before. I took a rickshaw from the Station and came directly to the School Campus. It was Tiffin time perhaps 09:30 am. In their pink uniform the students were moving here and there in the campus, some of them were playing in the ground. It looked so beautiful that I was filled with extreme pleasure. As my rickshaw stopped at the entrance some boys gathered around me and asked where to go? I ask them about Shahab Shaharwardi, who was a teacher in the High school to whom I have heard through my uncle. The students took my bag and rushed to his room and said: This is Shahab Bhais room, please wait I will call him now, he will just come! Syed Shahabuddin Saharwardi was a high School teacher from a village near Tehta Railway Station, Gaya. He worked as a teacher in Insan School for nearly five years and was terminated in 1984 along with 8 others in reaction to the formation of an association of teachers called ITWA [Insan Teachers Welfare Association] as he was the President of it. Shahab Saharwardi will always be remembered as Anti-Dr. Syed Hasan and as a horrific enemy of Insan School. I know him as a rude, uncultured, dishonest, bad-mannered, wicked, ignorant and an evil character that has put a dark mark up on the glory of Insan School. Had he not been done his dirty work the schools repute could have gone very high. I will review at his tenure and the history of ITWA later on. When I met Dr. Syed Hasan and handed him the letter of my uncle he spoke no more than: OK..yesyesOK.let us seelet..us see.. Those were his patent words. In Urdu he used to say: 28

Jeehan.. Jee .. Jee. Dekhtey haien.. I was told to take rest in the guest house. I was waiting for the answer anxiously. Everybody told me: Dont ask any thing to Syed Bhai. Things will go so on, you are under his observation. After waiting for four or five days in the morning a senior teacher Abdul Ahad Bhai took me to middle school. He sent me in an Urdu class. It was the class sixth. He gave me the book; it was my first experience as a teacher. In my idea the impression of mine on the students may not have so well. The bell rang and I came out of the class a bit nervous. Next day, Dr. Syed Hasan asked me to go to the High School Campus and meet Mozahir Bhai [Mr. Mozahirul Hasan]. After the school started I went to High School campus Mr. Mozahirul Hasan was the Headmaster of High School Section. He was an M.A. in political science. He was of the local soil from the village Sontha or HaldiKhora almost 20 kms far from Kishanganj. It was still winter the classes were arranged in open ground. The sent-up candidates were all sitting in an open class. The students knew that I was a candidate for a teaching post. One of the students I forgot his name perhaps Ahmed Kamal Faizi, looking smart in spectacles asked me to come to the class. I was afraid, because in a day or two these students have to appear in the final board examinations what I can do for them. I even dont have seen their book. If I will enter in their class what I will do? If they ask anything from the text book I may not answer. I looked at Mr. Mazahirul Hasan for help, so that he may understand the situation and may not ask me to go in the class, but luckily or unluckily he told me to go with Faizi in the class. 29

As I entered in the class I was little nervous. I find it better to talk something out of the syllabus. I ask the students: You are all sent-up candidates, warming up to appear in the final Board examination, what I can teach you. nothing.. .but I can ask you some questions that may help you. You have read prose and poetry in your text book ....... Dont you?" Yes They all replied. I asked them: Can anyone of you tell me what the difference between Prose and Poetry is? There was silence After a while someone told: Rhythm. No .. I said. Meter .[wazn]. No I said again. Prose can also be said or written in rhythmic and metric way. The main difference between the Prose and Poetry, if it can be said in a single word, it is Communication. The poetry is a non-communicative art while the Prose is a communicative art. In Urdu I used the word Tarseeli for communicative, the whole sentence appeared in the following words: Shairi Tarseeli hoti hai aur, Nasr ghair tarseeli hoti hai. I explained it with many examples. The students were happy. I gained my confidence. It put very good impression on them. I 30

was happy. It was my victory. Just after few minutes Dr. Syed Hasan was passing through the way, he asked me: How do you feel here.? I just took a class of the sent-up candidates; you may ask them what their impressions are. ..I answered. The work had been done. Next day I was asked to sit in the High School. My first test in the class of the sent up candidates I never forgot. A.K Faizi, Jawaid Iqbal, Rabia Bano, Raees Azam, and Khursheed Nayir [nephew of the ex-minister Mohammad Hussian Azad] were among the students to whom I still remember.

31

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6. At Bahadurganj
On March 2nd I was asked to go to Bahadurganj with the sent-up candidates as it was the Center for the Board examination. It was approximately 25 kilometers in the west. Dr. Syed Hasan was also with us. Mr. Mazhar Bhai a high school teacher was also in the team. I enjoyed much. Two cooks were also with us. There were good arrangements for food and rooms. The student use to go to the examination hall in their pink uniform. It looked beautiful. People look at the students with respect. Not only the Bahadurganj High School, but the whole Bahadurganj Market had proud of the students. At the Bus Stop, at the Hotels, at Market places people were talking about Insan School. I am the witness that the Insan School was the apple of everyone's eyes. The most important thing was that our students were trained not to cheat or copy in the examinations. So it was the second topic of talk that Insan Schools students never copy or cheat in the examinations. The students were treated respectfully everywhere 33

in the Market. The people were happy. The common populace was glad to see the growth of Insan School. Insan School was becoming their hope for future. The landlords and rich people paid attention to the Insan School; they like to admit their children in the Hostel. They look at it as a pride for their community. There were two hotels of Urdu speaking men in Bahadurganj who belong to Beguarai. Sometimes I use to sit there and enjoy Tea and Pakaura. Bahadurganj was a local market. Two or three times in a week the market was setup and people from all sides neighboring Bahadurganj use to come for marketing. Vegetables, eggs, hens, bamboos, livestock, grains, Jutes, readymade clothes, toys, cheap cosmetics items, and many items of interests were being sold in the weekly market. I enjoyed much for a week or two. After working for more years in Insan School I came to know about some important personalities of Bahadurganj who later become the part of my memories. Among them the Name of Maullana Munawwer Hussian Sahab of Alta Bari I will never forget. He had been one of the top spiritual Guru in Bihar. He was the disciple of Shaik Maullana Zakaria Sahab who is known as a Sheikh at world level. He is the man who has composed the famous book Tableeghi Nisaab later changed to Fazil-e-Aamaal. I took bait with Maullana Munawwar Husain. Sahib. His son Qari Salim Sahab is also a Sheikh to whom I love. One Khwaja Sahab of Village Sontha is also a big spiritual guru. Maullana Jafer Sahab and Maullana Idrees Sahab of village Nawkatta had been the great spiritual personalities of Kishanganj to whom I loved most. I learned interpretations of Dreams form Hazrat Maullana Idrees Sahab of Nawkatta. Once when I went to Altabari, I asked Hazrat Maullana Munaawar Hussain Sahab: 34

Hazrat! at which place in our body the Soul exists? Hazrat became silent for few moments then said: Nowhere and everywhere . One of my colleagues Mr. Jehangir Malik who accompanied me in this meet, told me that Hazrat told in my absence that I am a man of strong mind. Qazi Muslehuddin and Mufti Shafi Sahab of Bholmara were like religious father of the entire locality. Man like Qazi Muslehuddin is still not found in Bihar. These were the big religious personalities who had been the beloved of millions of peoples in Kishanganj. They served as guardians for the whole Muslim population.

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7. Failed to marry
After few days in March 1979, when I returned back to Insan School from Bahadurganj I came to know that the teachers are divided in many groups. They are jealous to each other. There were few teachers who were working since the inception of School. Mozahir Bhai [HaldiKhora: Kishanganj] Ahad Bhai [Barhpura: Bahgalpur], Mehata Bhai [Delhi] Zameer Bhai [Kishanganj] Prasad Bhai [Biharsahreef: Nalanda] and Nigar Baji [JamiaNagar: NewDelhi] are memorable names. Ali Imam Bhai was at the other side who later become the Deputy Director of DEEPAYTAN [An autonomous body of Adult Education] Patna. Later on he joined as a Principal of Government Training College, Bikramganj, Patna. Ali Imam Bhai was from Bihar Sharif [Nalanda: District]. He worked in the school for several years. He was also being recognized as a modern Urdu fiction 37

writer. His stories has been published in Aahang Urdu Monthly Gaya, edited by Mr. Kalam Haidri...[The notable Urdu fiction writer after 60s] Kalam Haidri brought up an special issue of Aahang pertaining special studies on his short stories. Ali Imam Bhai was a Science Graduate and a Master in Education. Being a Master in Urdu and a beginner in Urdu criticism I naturally came closer to him. This wedged like thorns in the eyes of the third group to whom Syed Shahab Saharwardi was the leader. Syed Shahab Saharwardi was a graduate with Geography. He was a high school teacher .He tried to make us a topic of joke. Even after 30 years I still hate him. He treated me like an enemy. He never let me do enjoy my own mood freely. The year 1979 was critical year in my life. There were two most important things to which I was much worried about. In those days of distress, firstly, I was always thoughtful for the low salary [Rs200/- per month] even if the school had a big repute and income. There were 1200 students in the hostel other than the non-resident students and each hosteller was paying 250 rupees per month. Though, I have been very weak in mathematics but I have always shown interest in calculating the Schools income. In 1979, fee paid by one student was Rs 250 per month, multiplied by the number of students in the hostel [1200] is equal to RS/-300000 [ three hundred thousand per month] plus the fee from the non-hostelits was Rs25/- per student multiplied by 2000 is equal to 50000 rupees. The average salary of one staff was Rs250/- per month multiplied by the total number of staff 120 was equal to RS 30000/- per months, and the total income of the school was Rs350000 [three hundred fifty thousand Indian rupees] and only 8.75% percent of the total income of the School was being paid to the Teachers. 38

Secondly, I was always afraid, owing to my own assumption, on a secret issue of my life that if I will continue my service at Insan School and if I may not be succeeded to increase my income, I will definitely fail to marry someone to whom I loved heartedly. It was a real love, without any physical feel. This was a love of 18 vs 11. We both were formally engaged with each other in 1976, and the engagement was negotiated by her parent, but due to the deprived means of earnings I lost her forever. The engagement broke. In reply to a letter, her mother wrote to my elder sister that she doesnot wish to marry her daughter with me. In breaking this relation my financial status was the main reason which was plain to her parents. They were financially stronger than me. Would anybody in this world; could account my failure in love as sacrifice to Insan School? Nobody can? Even I myself can never presume my lost love as a sacrifice to Insan School, but here, a piece of flesh in my chest, always haunts me and blame it upon me and still at the age of 55 I fail to give him the right answer. In those years the School was running very smoothly and everything was on bang. In early few weeks I worked as AssistWarden in a hostel named Peace House with Mr. Mozahirul Hasan who was the Head Master and the Warden of the Hostel. Later on I became the Warden of the hostel .Mr. Gulab Chandra Sharma, who later worked as a Principal of Bal Mandir High School at Kishanganj, was my Partner-Warden in Peace House. The classes run from morning 7 to 12 all the year. After 12 we go directly to the dining hall take our meal and rest for few hours and then spent our time in the hostel. Some biscuits or some fried items were served to the students in the evening. We use to sit along the play ground and watch the students playing. Not a single student was allowed to sit idle in the room in the afternoon until sunset. It was mandatory to everybody to play in what does he may like.

39

As the sun disappears the call for the evening prayer starts immediately, they all stop playing and go to offer Salah. Just after Maghrib Salah there was a continuous routine to look for the number present. In each hostel the warden used to take attendance and then they spend some time in instructions or moral guidance if they had any. Immediately all of them go to study till Isha Salah. Nobody was allowed to enter others room during self-study hours except with some reasonable justification. The wardens used to watch the students as if someone is studying or not. After the Isha Salah the bell for supper rang and all big and small take their supper and then till 9 oclock they all supposed to go to the bed. They were forced to switch off the lights, as it was time for early to bed. The morning always dawned at Insan School with full of joy. The meadow looked contented with the charming scene of physical exercises. The game in-charge among the teachers happened to appear in ground in his full zoom. Even Dr. Syed Hasan himself liked to be in the command. He had many tricks and exercises which he used to apply in the ground. We watched him sometimes standing along with the field and often being a part of the drill. An old black man holds a copper bell in his hand and moves throughout the campus .. Ting ting ting.. Ting it is the bell for breakfast. In no time the players rushed to their hostel, and get ready to go to the dining hall. There were different items in breakfast appearing repeatedly in a week. In my stay at Kishanganj I learned to eat and later became habituated of taking cooked grams plus Muri all together. It was called Chana Muri in the local dialect. The breakfast with Chana Muri was commonly liked by the students. Within an hour after the ..ting ting tingting we saw students approaching towards the dining hall in queue. This was a big dining hall made of bamboos and covered with straws. It had the capacity to accommodate six 40

hundreds at a time. In two shifts the breakfast or lunch had been taken off. There were separate tables for the teachers. Tea was also served to all. This big dining hall was also being used for entire gathering. At such occasions the big hall looked packed. First of all if I saw any VIP in Insan School, it was Mr. Kaleemudin Shams the then Deputy Speaker of West Bengal Assembly. His speech was memorable. He said if Insan School needs his blood he will do it. He said: I want that a pair of shoes be made of my skin and presented to Dr. Syed Hasan for his efforts. The breakfast is over, now; no one can be seen in the open. All rush to their classrooms. Dr. Syed Hasan holding a measuring tape and a stick in his hand is now busy with the Laborers at the construction sites. Dr. Syed Hasan use to move in the campus all the time. Nobody can say at what time and at which place he may appear. All the time he was seen everywhere in campus but not at a certain place at all. Syed Bhai is coming was a warning to everybody. Once he told: I have made myself physically appearing at all places in the campus in an aperiodic way. His movements were not certain. At 9clock he was seen in the High School, 10 at the College, again at 11 oclock at the High School, and then again moving to the college.

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8.

Tomato

It was difficult for Dr. Syed Hasan to hire all trained teachers for his School so he commonly employed untrained teachers, and through his continuous effort he used to train and outline them in his frame. He used to take daily or weekly classes for the teachers throughout the year. The teachers who had no interest in learning and enhancement of knowledge took these classes as waste of time. But few of them were always serious. Dr. Syed Hasan used to teach us child psychology, motivation, personality development and leadership. I believe that, many of those teachers of Insan School, though they were not certified as trained teachers, but they were never less than a trained teacher who is a Diploma or Dgree holder in Education. There are still few names remaining in the campus like Abdul Ahad Bhai and Mozahir Bhai who can create miracles and can run, handle, execute and arrange big institutions at all levels. 43

Once Mr. Abdul Ahad Bhai, a senior teacher came to our hostel, he gathered the students and gave a lecture on cleanliness. When he was talking about how to keep the broom and maintain the hostel clean. I was surprised how he is speaking and from where these words are coming. Definitely this was the training of Dr. Syed Hasan that he was capable of talking on this issue in such detail. In class IXth there was a chapter in the Urdu text book named Tamater Sehat ka Khazana [Tomato: the treasure of health]. I was assigned to teach the lesson. Those days I was trying my best to practice the methods of teachings exhibited by Dr. Syed Hasan. He told us to correlate the lessons with the life so that the knowledge should come to practice. I took a big size tomato in the class and tried to convince the students that it is a treasure of health. It was Saturday. The students were to go to market in the evening. When the students returned from the market, it was observed that everybody has carrying a bag filled with tomato. As a result Tomato was seen everywhere, under the cots, in the racks, they take some pieces to dining hall and eat with meals. The Tomato case was so highlighted that slowly it expanded in other hostels and the whole season Tomato was a topic in High School. Many of my students who met me later after years in Aligarh or somewhere else recalled that days and enjoyed. In 2005 when I met one of my students Iqbal Sami in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, he recalled the Tomato story and enjoyed a lot. Beating was absolutely prohibited in Insan School, but there were other psychological methods of punishment. I remember, once, when a teacher Sohail Bahi [form Balia U.P] beat a student with stick, a staff meeting was called on for this issue. Dr. Syed Hasan discarded this act without speaking anyones name openly. He said in the meeting: This is an insane activity. 44

He tried his best and even, at last he used the threatening technique on the teachers that if anyone would fail to regard the student. By nature I never liked to be so serious among my students. I always created interest in my class rooms. Even Dr. Hasan has admired this quality of mine. At a place he wrote about me: He always creates interest in the class room and enjoys with his colleagues. During my 15 years tie with Insan School/Insan College, I never beat any of my students except once. It was the Urdu class of eighth or ninth. I was busy to demonstrate or tell something. I saw one of the students in the class not as much attentive at all rather than he was laughing, and despite my care he continued chuckling on me. His name was Mohammad Jamil, from Calcutta; he was a nice student, favorite to all the teachers. He was also favorite to me. I asked a student to bring a stick. He brought it from a nearby ditch and I beat him angrily, one, two, three, four, five, six strokes. He stood up and said staring on me: It is the first time that a teacher has beaten me in the School. It is the first time that I have beaten a student in the School. I replied. No answer. I said again after a pause: We both have broken the records.

45

The class was silent at this comment but I cared some of them kept smiling. This matter was not taken into account, nor reported to Dr. Syed Hasan despite he never allowed anything to escape his notice. Everybody in the class knew that I never raise stick on the students. It was regarded as a case of probability and as a first chance for both of us. The punishment methods in the school were all psychological. When students go miss-behaving or create problems the matter was being reported to Syed Hasan. There was nothing like expulsion. Not a single student in the history of Insan School/Insan College has been expelled or ejected. It doesnt mean that there was no any problem child, surely problem children were there, but the method of punishment was purely psychological. An unbeaten psychology had been created among such students, and they were forced psychologically to turn positive. I believe that not a single school administration in the world will dare to keep on any of his students who pointed a Knife to his teacher or abused him openly in presence of all. Did it happen at Insan School? Yes it happened so and the case was handled so smartly that the accused student turned to be a favorite, helping, respect-paying, and gentle personality. He became the leader of the school at many occasions. It was class IXth, my favorite class. I was sitting in the office. What happened that on a issue a teacher Naseem Bhai who belong to Araria District, called a student Mohammad Aslam in the office and slapped him two or three times. Within minutes he ran to the hostel and returned with a necked knife. He pointed the knife to Naseem Bhai and started abusing him. He scratched off his name from the attendance register by his knife and said that he doesn't want to be in the campus any more. 46

The student of other classes gathered and watched him. All the teachers watched him. All of us thought that Mohammad Aslam will be ejected from the school but instead of facing any kind of expulsion he was treated psychologically and later on shaped into a respect-paying and gentle personality. The same day when Dr. Syed Hasan saw him after few hours of the occurrence near the school-canteen, he wished him with an over cheerful face showing that he may not have been taken this issue on account. Again and again when ever Dr. Syed Hasan saw him he tried to demonstrate a clear face impression.. This was a patent type therapy used by Dr. Syed Hasan. He used to call it a supportive psychotherapy. They saw, within a week that Mohammad Aslam was assigned to carry out the proceedings of morning assembly of the School, and soon after he was a changed man. Had he been ejected from the school, his problems may have continued with him in future. Does anybody know about that? Can his parent pay the price of this treatment? Was this even noticed by any one at time? The answer is in silence. After his matriculation Mohammad Aslam went to AMU Aligarh. There, he studied commerce and came back to Kishanganj, and started running his own Bakery, which soon regarded as the biggest Bakery in Kishanganj town.

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9.

14th November

Many more students at Insan School were treated by Dr. Syed Hasan in a typical way. The problem-children were usually motivated to some extracurricular activities. Some of them were assigned tasks to work as drill-leader and were being motivated to take part in games, supervision of dining hall, working as team leader, some were brought up to carry out the morning assembly session. Even if within a week or two we see that the students who were disrespectful to their teachers or they have some discipline problem surprisingly turned obedient after the therapy. The whole school seemed to be plunged into an ocean of joy. The classes run short. Students are engage in extracurricular activities. These days there are not many restrictions for the 48

students to go out of the campus. They can go out of the hostel frequently. The wardens have also loosened their grip. The daily routine of the hostel is little affected. On the evening-attendance not all the students seems to be present. What is going on? Anyone in the Insan School can answer to this question that 14th November, the foundation day of the School is nearby. The students and teachers are busy in preparations to celebrate the event. Some students are busy in preparing their models. Some are planning to open stalls. Most of them are busy in sports and games which they have to demonstrate on the foundation day. Rehearsals are going on as daily basis in every hostel to display the cultural events on 14th November. Along the play ground, the road and the hostels, earth pieces for stalls and models are being allotted to the students. It is the biggest festival of the institution. As soon as the days are coming closer the whole Kishanganj town is warming up to attend the programme. Now the time has reached. A big stage has set for the function. VIPs and guardians are sitting in front of the stage in row. The students are coming from their hostels in lines. They look like colored stars moving in queue. The time of the Annual day celebration has reached in the ground. In few minutes all students will gather in the big play ground standing in rows. The time for the flag hoisting is about to reach. Someone is coming to hoist the flag; he is being escorted by guards left and right. The Sub-Divisional Government officer is Honorary Guest of the function. Member of Parliament Mr. Rafiqe Alam is sitting in the top row but who is going to hoist the flag. Who is he? Is he a bigger VIP? They all are astonished to see that a student Zaidi Aziz is approaching to hoist the school's flag. He is confident on his every step. Who is Zaidi Aziz? Zaidi Aziz is a student of the School. He is the elected Prime Minister of the School Government. He was chosen to hoist the flag of the school on the foundation day. Everyone stares at him with love. He himself looked fair and smart, a young boy at his 15. 49

Now some students are coming for speeches. Some boys make a small train joining each other like bogies and then the human train started taking round and round up on the stage. It is going on towards a big goal. It reflects the goal of life. The philosophy of life is demonstrated in this event. From the background a melodic song appears, this is the voice of Nigar Baji, a primary School teacher.
CHUK.. CHUK ..CHUK CHUK CHUK..RAIL.. CHALEY: CHUNNU MUNNU AAIEN TO YE KHEL CHALE CHUK CHUK CHUK CHUK

I dont know for what reasons, whenever I have seen this programme, I always failed to get my tears back. These simple lines always appeared to me as an unprecedented philosophy of life. Shifa Syed Hafeez, the youngest son of Dr. Syed Hasan, a student of class one is the team leader of this item. A group of high school girls came up on the stage and started acting on a background melodic poem. Nigar Bajis voice is appearing from the back ground. Among the girls I remember a lean and thin small girl Nikhat Nasreen who later became Reader in the Department of Education, Aligarh Muslim University.
YEH FARSHE ZAMEEN YEH CHATRE FALAK YEH AALAME IMKAN HAM SE HAI YEH SHORE BAHAARAN HUM SE HAI YEH JASHNE CHRAAGHAN HUM SE HAI KALYON MEN CHITAK PHOOLOON MEIN MAHAK SHAKHON MIEN LACHAK HAM SE AAEE TAQDEER HAMAARI MUTTHI MEIN YOON KAHNE KO NAADAAN HAIN HUM YEH SHORE BAHARAN HUM SE HAI YEH JASHNE CHRAGHAN HUNM SE HAI YEH FARSHE ZAMEEN YEH CHATRE FALAK ..

My tears never get back until the song is finished. I looked my both sides whether someone is taking notice of my tears. No 50

anybody, they were looking at the stage. Who knows that Mr. Equbal Wajid was weeping while watching this programme? I think my tears broke out due to the unsolved mystery of life to which I was much crazy since my early 20s, and I say that the mystery of Universe and serious thinking over it had been the biggest thing in my life which had occupied my mind since long. During my Insan School period it was at a high stake. Thinking on the appearances continued in my whole life. In my heart I feel deep love to nature and loneliness, a loneliness that can be found only in forests or deserts. I cannot explain my very desire but I feel so, and I intend to experience it somehow in the near future. They may say that it is a kind of madness, but I am sure to taste it. Dr. Syed Hasan always talked about will power. He taught us that the will of a man can do everything he likes. Though I was confused at this point that the will can do everything we do like. Once, a programme was being arranged in the open. Suddenly clouds from all sides of the sky gathered, it rained, and the programme was postponed. I am a witness that Dr. Syed Hasan looked at the cloud and said: The rain could have been prevented through the Will Power. Nobody commented on his statement. He often told that he has the Will that can do anything. Once he was in need of money, he waited for few days whether some cash could come to the cashier, when in distress he went under the branches of a tree behind the school and asked God: Why you are not sending money for few days? As he returned beneath the tree, he saw some guardian asking for the cashier to deposit school fees. 51

Dr. Syed Hasan always kept himself rather shabbily dressed. His clothes always looked like traveled stained. He used to wear torn old cloths patched with small or big patches over it. The patches were visible through necked eyes. Some teachers say that he does it intentionally to attract people. When he came from America he left wearing coat. I never saw him in a coat or suit. His outfits were Kurta and Pajama, sometimes paint-shirts. In the winter he used to wear sweater or most of the time he moved in the campus wrapped in blanket. Some teachers also copied his style and they sometimes wrapped blanket on them in the campus in winter season. Dr. Syed Hasan never tolerated if anybody is putting-on a colored spectacles. It was not allowed in the campus, as he used to say that it is a kind of weakness, it is similar as to escape from the people. Once, by the way, a High School Teacher Kanak Lal Saha put on a colored spectacle. As his habit Dr. Syed Hasan never allowed anything unnoticed to him. He went to the hostel and asked him, why he was wearing a goggle? Even the students never put on a goggle in the campus. It was only because Dr. Syed Hasan never wanted to lose his eye contact with anybody. Eye is first. He used to gaze into eyes of everybody and know his welfare. If somebody escapes his eye contact he felt disturbed. We have heard his hundreds of lectures on eye contact. Those who are close to Dr. Syed Hasan or have been the students of Insan School know his slogans:
AANKH KO PARHAIN GE

[We will teach the eyes]

KAAN KO PARHENGE

[We will teach the ears]

JISM KO PARAHENGE.

[We will teach the body] 52

Many a year later when I gone through a book on Management I realized that the efforts of Dr. Syed Hasan was significant, as our institutions are running only to provide knowledge to the students not to provide the art of living. Our teachers lack proper training. The teachers training courses are also supposed to be taken as increase in knowledge. The natural aptitude of a teacher, his dynamism, and love for cause of education are the real tools which can lead them to shape good personalities. School is a place where the art of living should be provided to the students along with the knowledge, not only knowledge is success. Success lies somewhere else and some where beyond the knowledge. Living and the art of living is totally different thing than the knowledge. There should be a practical understanding of adjustment in every instance of life. I am sorry to say that most of our institutions only focus on providing knowledge not the personality. In Insan School the personality of student was kept on so high priority that the students were not even being asked for the school dues, whatever big amount it may be. It happened in the golden years of Insan School and later on the strategies has little changed, due to the irresponsible behavior of the parents who took this high moral of the School as a chance for them and never cared for the school dues. If someone succeeds to collect the old dues of the school with the parent, since the inception of the school, it may reach up to many thousands of Indian Rupees.

53

10.

Insan College

It was the September of 1980 in Insan School. The rainy season had gone. The rainstorm had stopped, there were no mud on the tracks. A staff meeting was going on in the big dining hall. Dr. Syed Hasan was full charged. He was looking very serious. He didnt make any wit in the meeting neither he responded to any joke. They thought that something had may happened to him. He was recalling his journey to Kishanganj from the start, as it was his habit. He said that this institution will grow as an autonomous University. It will be a model for the country. He said that he has the plan to establish an Educational Township in which there will be different Colleges and they all would run under Insan University. He said that new staff will join and they will surely be more competent than the old. They will have more education more knowledge more salaries. He said that he is a 54

decided man; nothing can stand on his way. His goal is clear. He has never been a confused person. Aafaqe the peon was serving tea to the staff. He gave me a cup of tea, I gazed at him. He smiled in response. He knows that I need more a cup. I finished the tea and waited for him. He was in other row serving the tea. In his one hand he was holding empty cups and a Kettle in the other. I waited but he didnt come, I assumed that he forgot. All of sudden I heard Dr. Syed Hasan raised his voice and said:
COLLEGE KHOL DIA GAYA HAI

[The College is now declared

open].
AAP MIEN SE JO CHAHE APPLY KARSAKTA HAI , KIS KA HOGA NAHEN HOGA YEH COMMITTEE PHAISLA KAREGI

[Anyone who is illegible among you can apply, but will he be selected or not, this is subject to decision of the Committee.]
MAZAHIR BHAI KA COLLEGE MEIN HO GAYA HAI

[Mazahir

Bhai has been promoted to College.] The teachers who were not eligible for the post of Lecturer-ship were filled with the feeling of inferiority. Those who were Post Graduates, they were confused what to do. They thought that if they will not be selected then how they can dare to survive among the students. They will certainly feel humiliation. I had the same idea. Luckily I got a selection letter for admission from Delhi University in the course of One Year Post Graduate Diploma in Urdu Translation. This was a new course, started in the University of Delhi for which I had applied earlier. Now I was of the mind that if I will not be selected as a Lecturer I will leave the School and proceed for Delhi. I intend to work Part Time in Delhi and get admission in the Translation Course. So finally I decided to apply for the Post of Lecturer in Urdu.

55

Within a week I received the call letter for interview. The interview was not just an interview. It was an interview camp broadened throughout the whole week. There were many items. 1. Reporting and Registration. 2. Campus Tour 3. Cultural Programme 4. Teaching Performance 5. Written test 5. Games. 6. VIP Meet 7. Final Interview. I took one week leave from the School and join the group of candidates who came for interview. As other candidates I was also given a badge to tag with my shirt CANDIDATE was written over it in bold letters. A colored ribbon was also tagged with it. Everyone was confused about me, the teachers failed to guess what will be the result. Some were of the mind that Equbal Sahib cannot succeed the test. My jealous enemies [Shahab Saharwardi and Co] were anxious to know form where the rest candidates for Urdu have come? They became happy when they came to know that Mrs. Ruhi Enaam, a famous short story writer and a Novelist from Calcutta is a candidate for the post of lecturer in Urdu. I was also a bit nervous, but I know that Ruhi Enaam's works has been published in the Urdu Monthly KHATOON E MASHRIQE and it was a magazine which has never been accepted and admired by the litterateurs rather than it was famous among common Urdu readers who have cheap tastes of literature. When we finished our registration and Campus tour, we were asked to stage a cultural programme. The evening was delightful. The big hall was full of 1200 students, among audience there were women, girls, guests and VIPs of Kishanganj. It was mandatory for all the candidates to 56

take part. Among us there were Malika Rehana and Malika Ferhana they were sisters who had come from Patna. Malika Rehana was a candidate for Lecturer in History and her younger sister for Hindi. They both were smart, bold, active, and intelligent. They both won the interview and worked at Insan College for years. The younger sister Malika Ferhana left the College after her marriage and lived with her husband somewhere in Dhanbad. She also got a teaching job in a school in Dhanbad. The elder sister Malika Rehana spent more than 16 years in the college. She had a dispute with her husband over Insan College. Her husband wanted her to leave the job but she said no to him and as a result their relation broke and her husband never came to Insan College neither Malika Rehana ever tried to met him. But there was not any formal divorce. Later on I came to know that her husband joined Tableegi Jamat. Some of the candidates came to me for suggestions; I suggested them to perform a Qawwali Program for which I was the main artist. I remember, among the candidates, there was a Punditji who knew how to intone Harmonium. Among us there was Abdus Samad a candidate for Economics, Buland Akhtar Hashmi, a candidate for Psychology, Abul Hasan, a candidate for English. I was in the role of a Qawwaal [singer]. I wore a Kurta Pajama I selected a Persian Gahazal of Amir Khusroo.
NAMI DAANAM CHE MANZIL BOOD SHAB JAAEY KE MAN BUDAM [I dont know which place it was last night where I was] BAHAR SU RAQS E BISMIL BOOD SHAB JAEY KR MAN BUDAM

[Everywhere it was the dance of the people who were half murdered]
KHUDA KHUD MEER E MAJLIS BOOD ANNDAR LAMAKAN KHSRU

[The God himself was the Chair Person of the stage at placelessness]

57

MOHAMMAD SHMME MAHFIL BOOD SHABJAAEY KE MAN BUDAM [Mohammad SAW was the light of the stage last night

where I was]
NAMI DAANAM CHE MANZIL BOOD

It was my first experience that I was performing a Qawwali programme in front a huge audience. I was in full zoom I was acting just like a professional Qawwal. The programme was over. When I came down from the stage every one cheered me. After lunch in the night when we were passing through the hostel NAMI DANAM CHE MANZIL BOOD was heard everywhere. Next day for the Insan School it was the morning of NAMI DAANAM. When I came across the students they rejoicefully started singing NAMI DANAM CHE MANZIL BOOD SHAB JAAEY KE MAN
BOODAM.

The written test covered English, the subject applied for and General Knowledge. After written test the candidates performed games. I took part in Volleyball, as I had been a third line player of Volleyball. Then we went for VIP meet. Some of the VIPs I remember were DR. Shayam Lal Saha, Dr. Qamrul Hoda, and Dr. Mohan Lal Jain. We met seven or eight VIPs of Kishanganj; they all put confidential remarks on our profiles. One day during the Selection-Camp the candidates were asked to go through teaching performance tests. The high schools higher classes were arranged for them. The students had been asked to give their remarks on the candidates. Each one of them had maximum five points to grant. As a candidate for Lectureship I had also to pass through performance test. I looked very serious. Two of the senior teachers were also sitting in the back row. They also had to put remarks on my performance. It was the X class, my favorite class. Some of the students of this class I remember Afaqe Akhtar [Doctor in USA] Asim Azfer [ Lecturer in USA] Nikhat Nasreen [Reader in Deptt of Education AMU Aligarh] Sirajuddin [Manager :Saudi Arabia] 58

Iqbal Sami [Manager : Saudi Arabia] Jawwadul Haque [Kishanganj] , Mumtaz Alam[ Kishanganj] Gesu Syed Hafeez[ Daughter of Dr.Syed Hasan] Yasmeen Begum [Kishanganj, Atia Bano[ Kishanganj] Mohammad Salim [ Biraat Nagar: Nepal] Perwaiz Akhtar [Sahibganj]. When I was asked for teaching performance test, Mr. Ruhi Enaam the candidate for Lecturer in Urdu was still in the class. She was teaching an essay GUZRA HUA ZMANA written by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. There was pin drop silence in the class. First time the students of class tenth experienced a female teacher in their class. I was the next candidate for teaching performance. This was my own class to which I have been teaching Urdu since 19 months. Now it was up to the students to decide my fate. The badge as a sign for candidate was hanging on left side of my chest. When I listened to the soft female voice teaching Urdu in my class with a pin drop silence, I was desperate. I entered in the class and took a glance. The students looked serious. In the front row there were girl students. It was a big test for the students that a 19 months old teacher of their class is appearing in the same class for teaching performance. They have to decide what should they do? I cannot tell anybody what were my feelings. Suddenly an idea came to my mind. I didnt take any lession of the book to teach rather than through questioning method I stated to talk with them on the definition of literature and its scope. I asked them I am going to say something about literature. Can any one of you tell me what literature is? They answered in different way. Then I tried to talk something beyond their standard. I used hard words as the Lecturers do in Colleges. Slowly I gained confidence and as it was my habit I created humor. How the time passed I dont remember. When I 59

finished my teaching the whole class screamed with joy, a loud sound of clapping raised from the class. The students said loudly in one voice: HO GAYA HO GAYA HO GAYA Even the senior teachers Mr. Mozahirul Hasan and Mr. Abdul Ahad, who were the observers on this performance test, were unable to get their smile back. The students gave me maximum marks. Dr. Syed Hasan was also observing the whole situation. Next day the final interview was scheduled. The final interview for the post of Lecturers in different subjects is going on. The candidates are wandering near the Head Office. Experts; for the related subjects has been invited from the nearby Marwari College. In the main office Malika Ferhana [Hindi] Malika Rehana [History] Buland Akhtar Hasmi [Psychology] Ruhi Enaam [Urdu] Mohammad Ameen [Persian] were present. Malika Farhana asked me some questions she expected to be asked in the interview. I remember, she asked me the difference between Drama and Novel. I told her some points in objective way, she was glad. In the mean time my biggest foe in the campus Shahab Shaharwardi entered in the room. He was attentive to Ruhi Enaam. He asked about her. He took her published Novels and Short Stories in his hand and started reading some lines loudly. He started praising her that she is a renowned personality of Urdu. Shahab Saharwardi never felt shame that the final interview is going on and he is trying to create inferior feelings in his companion who is also a candidate for Urdu. Minutes, before calling for interview I was shocked by his activity. Roohi Enaam was called first. In the interview board Prof. Izhar Alam Head of the Deptt of Urdu Marwari College was the expert. Dr. Qmarul Hoda was also one of the members. 60

I came to know later that Dr.Qmarul Hoda asked Roohi Emaam: Who are the big fiction writers in Urdu these days Instead of asking some big names she said: As regards about the big fiction writers of Urdu in the present times, I only know myself Madam..! .the doors of your house are widely opened from all sides Dr. Qamarul Hoda answered. Now it was my term for the interview. I was also asked few questions. Prof Izhar Alam asked me the meaning of a couplet of Allama Iqbal over which I was thinking since two weeks. He asked: There is a couplet of Allama Iqbal MERI NAWWAYE PARISHAN KO
SHAIRI NA SAMAJH , KE MAIN HOON MAHRAME RAAJ E DAROON E MAIE KAHANA

so what is the meaning of

MAHRAME RAAZE DAROON E MAI

KHANA?

se muraaad wo qoowaten aour asrar haien jo is kaienaat ki naqlo harkat our is ki tarteeb o tanzeem mien muharrik ki haisiyat rakhte haien I replied.
MAHRAME RAAZE DROON E MAIKHANA

Then I was asked to go. I spent very few minutes before the board. After few days I received the appointment letter signed by Dr. Syed Hasan to join the Insan College as a lecturer in Urdu Department. I was alone in the Urdu Department. The days were joyful. We feel proud to work in an institution whose fame was widened all over India. Dr. Syed Hasan was also happy with the new group of Lecturers. He often uses to come to the College and talk to us. He often arrange orientation programme for us. I remember Mr. Abul 61

Hasan who was an M.Phil in English Literature from Jawahar Lar Nehru University was the lecturer In-Charge. Later on many people took the charge of the office of the College. By rotation, once I also got a chance to be the In-Charge of the College for a period of few months. The College was started in the School area but soon it was shifted to a new Campus. Where the residence, play ground and the Dining Hall were all in one campus, surrounded by paddy fields and huts made of bamboos and straws. All the lecturers were mostly unmarried, except few. After duty hours we have no work except to read, sit and talk. The market was far, if we go to market we have to carry a torch with us else we cannot walk in darkness. There was no electrification. We use lamps with Kerosene oil. I have many sweat and bitter memories which happen to us in those days. I find myself much inclined towards cosmology. I have had serious thoughts in my mind for the mystery of Universe. In those days the Earth, the moon, the skies, the Sun, the animals and birds, oceans, and plant everything was appearing to me as great wonders. All the time these appearances were haunting me, in my bed, in the class room, at market places everywhere it came to me and shocked me.

62

11.

Insan University

When the college shifted on its own campus, it was the common talk that the College is going to emerge as a University. More than many times I heard it repeatedly by Dr. Syed Hasan. Once while giving a lecture on his plan he took a hard blow on the black board and said: In 1985 Insan University will be declared, it is decided .I am a decided man He continued. At that time in the locality from Katihar to Purnea, and from Araria to Thakurganj and in the West Denajpur District of West Bengal the news was all spread out. This was a big attraction for the Lecturers of Insan College to try their luck to work as University Teachers after four years. Therefore, all most all of them decided to try their fate at Insan College. There was no question for anybody to leave the College. Although the salaries were still low but Dr. Syed Hasan told us that after one year he is going to pay more than what the 63

Lecturers are getting in Government Colleges. We believed on what Dr. Syed said. The Lecturers left for other offers. Malika Rehana and Malika Ferhana were appointed as Lecturers in Gurugobind Singh College Patna City, but they both said no to the Job. They wrote to their father: We have better future prospect in Insan College, it is going to emerge as a University in the near future. So, we spent our valuable time without caring for the future. There was not a single beautiful place in our mind except that of Insan College. Insan College became our dream; it became our identity, our love, and our soul. Years passed so smartly that I cant imagine. Mr. Abul Hasan, lecturer in English from the village Bijhara near Barsoi, was a sober man by nature, he had also some scope somewhere else, but he never thought to leave the Insan College. So was the case with most of the Lecturers. Syed Shahid Ahmed Sami, Lecturer in Commerce left his position in Allama Iqbal College Biharsharif. When the young team of Lecturers uses to walk through the streets of Kishanganj all together, smiling and enjoying the evening walk, the people use to gaze at them with respect and pride. These are the lecturers of Insan College, look at them. They say to each other. In those beginning years we enjoyed more prestige at Kishanganj than that of the Lecturers who were working in other Government recognized Colleges. We thought nothing but only about the Insan University which was going to be declared in 1985. We thought ourselves the future lecturers of Insan University. This was a hope which had been created in our mind 64

so vigorously that it smashed all other immediate needs and desires of our careers. I owed to emerge as a critic in Urdu so I wrote articles on criticism which was being published in literary Urdu journals. Dr. Syed Hasan knew that I am of a philosophical mind so he uses to touch me time to time. One day he was taking a round of the hostel. He came to my room. I had written a quote of mine on a paper and pasted it on the wall of my room. In Urdu, It was written in bold:
FITRAT KHUDA KI TAHREEH HAI

[The nature is the explanation of

God]. When Dr. Syed Hasan entered my room and he saw the caption he enjoyed the quote and said:
JEHAAN.JEEHAN. YEH AAP NE LIKHA HAI? JEE SYED BHAI

I spoke. Then he said nothing.

I had been a sensitive man throughout my life. One of the surprising happenings in those days was that in Urdu class I was teaching the short story of Prem Chand named Boorhi Kaki [The old aunty]. It was the intermediate class. I remember among the students Atia Bano [Kishanganj] Gesu Syed Hafeez [Daughter of Dr.Syed Hasan] Yasmeen Begum [Kishanganj] were sitting in the front row. The Urdu class was full of students. While teaching stories I have always tried to read the story loudly in the class so that the student may get an idea of the whole story if they further miss to read it. Whenever I have taught a novel, I have taken special classes for one whole day on Sundays. Such classes had been started in the morning and it gone continuingly up to 1or 2 pm. The students listened attentively. From the beginning to the end the major parts of the Novel had been read. At few places wherever if I felt 65

it suitable I only summarized the story and then moved forward. I found it very fruitful and interesting to read the whole story of the novel at one time. I used to give intervals after each two hours. I remember I have taught two Urdu novels, two times in one-day special classes. These Novels were Nirmala of Munshi Prem Chand and Umrao Jaan Adaa of Mirza Ruswa. As an additional reading material once I read the Novel on Seerat Durrey Yteem. I collected money from the students and ordered for 30 or 40 copies of the Novel and in one day-session I read the whole Novel in the class. The students were unable to get back their tears at many places. Once, in the intermediate Urdu class, I was reading the story Boorhi Kaki to put an effect on the students. In the story there was a character of an old grandmother who is lying on her bed on the marriage day of her granddaughter. All the night she was thinking about the Puri and Sabzi which was made on the marriage day. Nobody gave her a single piece. When the night fell she moved slowly to the Kitchen, nobody was there. The used dishes were kept down for washing. Boorhi Kaki saw the plates; some broken pieces of Puris were lying in the plates. In some of them she find little quantity of vegetables. She collected the vegetables and pieces of Pooris and started eating quickly with the fear that anybody may not see her. When I read those lines it was unable for me get my tears back. I burst into tears abruptly and was not able to continue the class. Mohammad Azfer Sulaiman was an M.A. in Political Science. He was from Aaria. He worked as a Lecturer in Political Science at Insan College for several years. He had spent 11 years in Aligarh Muslim University. He was living in the College campus next to my room. He was a man of peculiar nature. He was a cynic-type personality. He always liked to show that he is different from all. So he often acted in peculiar way. When we started self-cooking he used to eat separately only one time in 24 hours. How he dared to do this, I cannot say, but it was his 66

routine for months. When I try to ask him the reason he never answered and laughed in a mysterious way. He often uses to say that he is a man of Tough Mind. He liked this term very much. One of his self imposed principles was that if anyone among his colleagues comes he does prepare tea for them, and if somebody comes after the tea is ready he will never share the tea with the new comer. One day as I entered into his room, I found some colleagues there. He made tea, served them and dont asked me for tea, even if there was more tea in the pot. He told me that he never serves tea for anyone who comes late. I was ashamed; I wanted to touch him again. I asked him about the betel. He told me I never share betel with anybody who doesnt take tobacco. Even if I have never eaten tobacco before I asked him to make betel with tobacco. He asked: How much? Little more than what you do take every day. I told. It was a challenge for him. He took more tobacco in his betel, then turned to me and gave me Betel with tobacco. I put it in my mouth. I have heard Dr. Syed Hasan saying that the Will power can control the mind, so I hold myself strong, concentrating on my mind that nothing will happen bad to me. Azfer Sulaiman spited out once. I also spitted out once and then I swallowed all the betel. Azfer Sulaiman spited out two or three times more. This was his defeat. He kept silent and then commented on me after a while: Either he is a mad or he is overpowered by a Ghost The joke finished. One of our colleagues Syed Shahid Ahmed Sami a Lecturer in Commerce was that time responsible for purchasing food items. 67

He often bring grains and and take our help to off-load and store the material. Once he was astonished to see that I lifted a 100kg rice bag and put it at another place quite normally as if it is a light weight of 25 kgs. It was all done by the will power that was taught to us. Shahid Bhai remembered this story for long time.

68

12.

Dead body of Hasan Imam

In 1984 the School was extended in class-wise campus. Each class had its separate staff room, hostel, kitchen, dining hall and play ground all in one campus. Dr. Syed Hasan told us that it is a first kind of experiment in Education in India that we are running autonomous class wise schools. The 4th and 5th class was running in separate campus. Ist, 2nd and 3rd, had a separate campus, class 6th, 7th and 9th were shifted in separate campuses. Mr. Raghuwans Prasad was the in-charge of class 4th and 5th. Usmani Bhai was the in-charge of 6th class campus. Mr Jehangir Malick was in-charge of 7th class campus. The 9th class was opposite to the College. In its start Mr.Shahab Saharwardi was the in-charge of this campus. Class 10th was kept in at the entrance, under the eyes of Dr. Syed Hasan.

69

The College was finally shifted along the Bahadurganj Road near Singhiya village. It took more than half an hour for us to walk on foot from School to College stepping on schools own land. There were two ponds in the campus which were being used for fisheries. Once, small fishes in many hundred packed tins came from Calcutta for fishery and were put in the pond. At the same time rumors were heard among the communal Hindus of the town that huge quantity of Bombs has been brought to Insan School. Dr. Syed Hasan played a successful trick to stop the rumor. When the news was on the peak he ignored the supply line to the kitchen and let the students and teachers go starve. Two or three times meal was not cooked. As a result now everybody was talking about the starvation and not about the Bombs. Dr. Syed Hasan told us later that how beautifully he defused the rumor. The big pond always looked beautiful. I, along with Jahangir Bhai use to sit on its shore and talk about our futures. We often talk about Dr. Syed Hasan. Whenever I looked on its water I enjoyed a lot. We watch the fishes swimming in the water. Sometimes in the evening some fishes jump high from the water into the air. We enjoyed this scene. Sometimes some fishes jump on the road and were caught by passers. Once I saw a fish leaped on the road. It was a big Garai [a kind of fish]. That time I was going to the town I hadnt any kind of bag with me to carry the fish so a passer from the near village took hold of it.. A tragedy is also attached to this pond. One day at Tiffin time Hasan Imam a resident-student of class 6th or 7th went down the water and sunk to death. It was the rainy season. The VIPs of Kishanganj came to school to look after the situation. Dr. Syed Hasan was of the mind that the student should be buried in Kishanganj, but Dr. Qamrul Huda a VIP and a sympathizer of the School advised him to send the corpse to the parents. Dr. Qamrul Huda said: JISKI AMANAT HAI US KO WAPAS KAR DI JAEY 70

[The dead body must be returned to the parent] On the advice of Dr. Qmrul Huda, Dr. Syed Hasan revoked his decision to bury the child in Kishanganj and decided to send the dead body to the parent. Teachers took it as a big risk to go along the dead body. They were afraid that something may happen wrong to the teachers who will escort the dead body of the child. Ali Imam Bhai, a Science Teacher declared that he will go along the dead body. He said: Even it the parent of the dead child will kill me in ambush, I am ready to go. I also asked to go with the dead body. Raghuwans Parasad a Hindu teacher and a loyal to Dr. Syed Hasan also intended to go with us. By 11:00 or 12:00 am an ambassador and a fiat car were hired for the task. The postmortem had been done and travel documents had been taken from the police. I sat on the back seat of the Fiat, close to the left door and took the head of the child in my lap. It was nearly 350 kilometer journey by road. The student was from a village in Barh District. In Purnia town, we purchased a big ice part and put it on the back seat of the car, and put the dead body up on it. The two cars moved in grave darkness. Time to time we see the head lights of trucks or other vehicles and nothing else. It was raining all the way. There was no telephonic contact with the parent. The locality to which the parents belong was horrific. People fear to travel in the area in night. All along the way we faced nothing wrong. By 11:30 night we stopped our cars beside the High Way. The village where we had to go was one Kilometer away from the high way. We find someone and asked him to guide us. He guided us to the village. It was 12 night. Two of us stayed waiting in the car with the dead body. Passing through different narrow streets we reached near a house. The guide told us. YEH GHAR HAI [This is the house]. 71

There was silence all around. We knocked the door. The voice of an old woman came in response:
KAUN HAI?

[Who is there]

LOG .. INSAN SCHOOL ..SE .AAEY HAIEN [We.. have ..come ..from. Insan School]. We answered.

HUM

The old woman kept silence for a while then asked in a shivering voice: KIYA BAAT.HAI? [ What is the.. matter?]
JI
HAAN.. KUCH BAAT ..HAI. .KOI .MARD ..HAI .TO ..BAHAR

[Yes, there is something if there .is any ..male member .inside send him.]
..BHEHJIYE.

KOI MARD NAHIEN HAI BETA YHAN KOI NAHI RAHTA HAI

[No [

male member is here inside. Nobody lives here.] She said.

AAP.. KA LARKA. KISHANGANJ ..MEIN .PARHTA. HAI

Does your .son study in Kishaganj?] We asked. Then the old lady started crying.:
KIYA HUA .MERE.. BETE KO

[What

..happened.. to. My.. child?] She sobbed. We kept silent .. She comprehended the matter and was unable to get her sob back. She cried loudly. Then the guide told her the fact. We came to know that the address written in the School register was not of the parent but of the village where the grandmother [maternal] was staying. She told us to take the dead body to his fathers village. One of their relatives came with us to guide. It was the month of Ramadan. The other village was 12 km far from here. We reached there easily. The boys mother was there. 72

His father was in Calcutta. As it was the month of Ramadan [Fasting] they may have finished their Sahari [the meal to be taken before morning to keep fasting]. We took the dead body and moved slowly between mud and dirt, and at last we reached the house. It was a big house. There was a big door widely opened towards the yard. As we stepped into the house carrying the dead body, we heard the sob and cry of the mother and other women. In the mean time the call for the morning prayer was going on from a nearby mosque. It was a highly pathetic and horrifying scene I ever witnessed. The father of the child was informed through telephone; He was a brave and bold man. He said that he is just starting from Calcutta. By 1:30 pm the father came. He was a man of tolerance. I dont saw him crying. He had patience. He was quite. He saw the dead body of his son, some drops of tears fell down over his cheek. After a while we offered prayer for the Corpse and buried the child. It was now 3:00 pm. The father asked us to take rest but we took his permission and started back for Kishanganj.

73

13.

Poor Planners/ITWA
In 1983 some teachers of the School formed an association named INSAN TEACHERS WELFARE ASSOCIATION [ITWA]. The master mind of this association was Shahab Saharwerdi. He was the teacher of Geography. Several initial meeting were held before the formation of the association. When the association was registered it was December 1983 and the schools vacation was about to start. Shahab Saharwerdi gave a written formal statement to Dr. Syed Hasan informing him about the formation of the Association and the names of its office bearers. It was a good chance for Dr. Syed Hasan that he got the details about the association in written. Being a Psychologist he presupposed the future of the association and took it as a threat to his freedom. A man like Dr. Syed Hasan could never leave any stone unturned which could come in his way of freedom. He took it as a great threat. When all the teachers were in vacation he sent termination letters to nine of them mostly to the office bearers of ITWA and its active members. Shahab Saharwerdi [President] Mohammad Shamsi [Treasurer] Mohammad Abbas [General Secretary] and 6 others. The single line termination letter was sent to the Teachers 74

by post when they were enjoying vacation at their home. The letter contended the following message: Your services are no more required to the Insan School. When the teachers got the termination letters at their home they came back to Kishanganj and tried their best to compel Dr. Syed Hasan by all means but he, being an iron man never yielded. It was a memorable evening when the teachers brought Mr. Jogeshwar Gop [a trade union leader] to force Syed Hasan to revoke his decision. Dr. Syed Hasan told clearly with his blazing eyes that he will never get them back. Mr. Gop was amazed with this bold answer. No . NoNo . Dr. Syed Hasan said loudly three times with his blazing eyes. Mr. Jogeshwar Gop waved his hand in distress and pretended to stop Dr. Syed Hasan and said: Slowly ..Slowly .Slowly. and then he went away. He told the Teachers that he will use another technique to trap him. After that day I never saw Mr. Gop in the campus again. When the MLA of Thakurganj, Mr. Mohammad Husain Azad was sworn in as a Minister of Bihar Assembly he came to Insan School. He was invited on a dinner. The Superintendent of Police and other VIPs of Kishanganj were along with him. The meal was being served. We were standing beside to know what they talk about. Mr. Mohammad Husain Azad told Syed Bhai on the dining table during his meal that when he was coming to Insan School the group of the terminated teachers met with him and he assured them that he will simply put the matter before Syed Bhai. As Syed Bhai heard this he raised his both hands high and then flung hit hard the dining table that the glasses and plate quaked and leaped: 75

MAIEN SCHOOL BAND KAR DOONGA MAGAR INLOGON KO WAPS NAHIEN LOONGA [I

will like to close the school rather to take them back]

We all were surprised. I saw the same moment Mohammad Hussein Azad yielded from his recommendation and said:
ARE BAHI HAM AAP SE KUCH KAH RAHEY HAIEN?

[Am I telling

anything to you?] The Superintendent of Police gazed at Syed Bhai with the corner of his eyes. The teachers went to the court. They were living in the campus without work. Day by day it became difficult for them to live in the campus. Dr. Syed Hasan turned the students against the Teachers. He used every possible way for the survival of the School. The students started abusing the teachers. The teachers dont dare to stand in front of them. The life of the teachers who were the members of ITWA became miserable. Many times the Educational Guru [Dr. Syed Hasan] called the students and motivated them to fight against the teachers. He said:
TALEEMI EDARA MAAN KI TARAH HOTA HAI, MAAN JAISI BHI HAI MAAN MAAN HAI, JAB MAAN KI IZZAT PER AANCH AA JAAI TO BETEY KO QURBANI DENNI PARTI HAI, AAP KI MAAN AAJ AAP SE QUBANI MAANG RAHA HAI.

[The educational institutions are like mothers, the mother is mother in every instance of life, when the prestige of the mother is at stake, the son has to sacrifice for her, this the time youre your mother requires your sacrifice] As a result the students stood against the teachers and started humiliating them. Now the teachers were not safe in the campus. Dr. Syed Hasan turned the battle from Teachers vs Management to Teachers vs Students. I heard that a teacher Shakir Bhai of Biharsharif went to dining hall; a student pulled out his plate 76

form his front at the dining table. Abuses like Mather Chod [Mother fucker] Bahan Chod [Sister Fucker] Bhonsri Wala [son of prostitute] were being commonly used for the teachers. I witnessed that a Primary Teacher was coming to college campus on foot and a group of students from School were chasing him and they were abusing, mocking, and laughing on him. I saw that except physical assault nothing was left for him. Dr. Syed Hasan taught the students that you need not to abuse the teachers rather than what you need is to show hatred against them through your face expression whenever or wherever you find them. This prescription became very useful. The teachers faced hatred all around them in the campus. Now there was no way for them except to leave the campus. So they decided to leave the campus and fight form outside. This was their biggest mistake. Syed Hasan became glad of it and said that this is their wrong decision, and that the School will win. When the teachers left the school the storm was cooled down. Just after a month, Syed Shahab Saharwardi who was the leader of the movement left Kishanganj and never returned. Had he been a man of caliber he could have come back to Kishanganj and fight for the teachers. One by one the Teachers who were involved in ITWA left Kishanganj and the storm passed down. The school won, the teachers were defeated but in this battle a big secret was unveiled that all the property of Insan School and Insan College is the personal property of Dr. Syed Hasan who has the right to appoint, use, pick, chose, throw and terminate anybody he want. The lawyer of Insan School said in defense in the Court of the Judicial Magistrate, Kishanganj that the Indian Constitutions has given right to every citizen to run his own business, appoint, and terminate employees according to his need. Even at that time many people were of the mind that only to save the institution Syed Bhai has played the trick. A man like Syed 77

Bhai will never turn the institution in his personal property. But as the days passed it became more obvious. The hundreds of acres of land which was purchased in sacrifice of all is now the personal property of the man who declared to be the free servant of the Nation. As soon as the secret unveiled from Kishanganj to Patna and Patna to Delhi the image of Dr. Syed Hasan changed slowly and his respect level among the mass turn down. Had he not been grabbed the hundreds of acres land as his own property he may have regarded as the Second Sir Syed Ahmed Khan of modern India. To build up a private owned intuition is not a sin. Anybody can do it, but to declare oneself as a servant to the Nation, to account every step as a sacrifice and then grab the whole schools land in his own possession is off-course a fraud and the whole Nation, specially the Indian Muslim Ummah as a whole, the Muslims of Kishanganj as well as the Muslims of Bihar are the victims of this big fraud of the century which occurred between 1964 to 2010. Dr. Syed Hasan has declared in the very start that the Institution belongs to the Muslim Ummah, but he legally never acted on this line. What the teachers and the Social personalities wanted that he should make a Society, get it registered and then proceed the Government to declare it as a Minority Institution. Once Late Mr.Abdul Ghani Sahab who had been a social worker in Siwan, Bihar and had been the founder of scores of Minority Colleges in Siwan told me to convey his message to Dr. Syed Hasan that he should try to make Insan School and Insan College a Minority Institution. This will be a great contribution to the Muslim Society, but Dr. Hasan never looked on such advices. When Syed Shahabudin won the Lok Sabha seat from Kishanganj it was a hope for the Teachers that he may find a way to lead the Institution towards Minority Character. The teachers handed Mr. Syed Shahabuddin MP, the bylaws of the sponsored 78

body of the Insan School and Insan College, TALEEMI MISSION CORE [TMC] which was supposed to be the mother body of the institutions. Mr. Syed Sahabuddin MP find that there was no legal nexus between Insan School/College and Taleemi Mossion Core [TMC]. He wrote to Dr. Syed Hasan that he could establish the legal nexus between these institutions through an affidavit in the court that Insan School and Insan college are the institutions which is run by Taleemi Mission Core [TMC] and that of those Institutions are the property of Taleemi Mission Core.[TMC]. Dr. Syed Hasan never did it. After several years Syed Shahabuddin MP seized his interest as he was unable to do anything more. In 2007 when I met Syed Shahabuddin in a Programme in Jubail he told me about Insan School:
HAAN IDARA KHATAM HO GAYA HAI AB ZAMEEN BEACH RAHE HAEN

[Yes, now the institution is destroyed and he sells the land and eats it.]
AUR KHA RAHEN HAEN

In 1986 when Mr.Akhlaqur Rahman Qidwai the then Governor of Bihar came to visit Insan School/ Insan College, he asked Dr. Syed Hasan to declare these institutions as Minority Character institutions but Dr. Syed Hasan refused to do so. Once in 80s, I met the notable Islamic Philosopher of modern times Maullana Waheeduddin Khan of Al Risala, at his residence at Nizamuddin East New Delhi. I told him that Dr. Syed Hasan dont want any help from the Government and intends to run his institution on self-help. Maullana Wheeduddin Khan answered with a smile:
AAP KE BAAL ABHI KALE HAIEN, SAFEAID HO GAIEN GE, YAAD RAKHIYE GA,US IDARE KA DO HASHR HOGA, YA TO UN KE BAAD KE LOG USE GOVERNMENT KO DENE KE LIYE TAIYEAR HOJAENGE, NAHI TO YEH EK LOCAL SCHOOL HO KAR RAH JAYE GA JAHAN BEWAQOOFOON KE BACHCHE PAHREN GE

79

[Your hair is black now, it will turn as white that time, remember my words, if it happened to contrary you could say that Waheeduddin was a man who was a liar. There will be either of the two results for this institution. Firstly, the people after Dr. Syed Hasan will become ready to hand it over to the Government, else-wise it will remain as a local School where the children of the foolish will study.] Waheeduddin Khan further said:
MAIEN NE US KE BAREY MIEN SUNA HAI , WHO BAHUT HUSHYAAR AADMI HAI.MERA MASHWARA HAI KE AAP US JAGAH KO CHOR DIEN, AUR KOI DOORSI

[I have heard about him, he is a clever man, I suggest you to leave the institution go and look for another place]
JAGAH DEKHEN APNE LYE

It is a biting wit that when I came back to Kishanganj I told Dr. Syed Hasan the same thing what Maullana Waheeduddin Khan had told me about him.
ACHCHA ACHCHA.. ACHCHA .. JI..JIJIHAN .JIHANJI JI .. OKOK..OK.YES...YES.....YES....OK...YES.....YES]

This was Dr. Syed Hasans response.

80

14.

Salary System

The method to pay the salaries in Insan School/College was a source of torture. Despite being low paid the teachers had never been paid timely. There was no such time-frame for payment. There was a pick and choose method to pay the salaries. This always hurt the sentiments of the teachers. Only the new employee could get their salaries on time. It goes for only few months. In the history of Insan School/College the salaries had never been paid on time. If somebody needs money he has to ask Dr. Syed Hasan and then he should go to remind him, he has to wander around him for at least a week, then it could be possible for him to get the salary. All the staff were habituated with this process. When the teachers see someone following Dr. Syed Hasan they guess that he wants money. At the time of vacation most of the dues were being cleared. There were many people who were shy by nature, they could never get salaries unless they ask and wander about Syed Bhai for this purpose. What could be the reason behind this attitude Allah knows better, 81

but the immediate advantage was obvious that in the whole History of Insan School the teachers always cried for a timely payment not for the other rights. They had always been kept hold of this artificial problem so that they could never know their real problems. Indirectly through this method scores of problem has been prevented by Dr. Syed Hasan. He never wanted the teachers to enjoy theirs. He kept them in constant tensions only to divert them from the approaching problems of their life. The teachers were customized to this payment system. Was it not a humiliation for the teachers to beg for Salary and then wander around Dr. Syed Hasan for many days to get it out? Although he ever justified his action saying that he tries to give money firstly to the needy and who is needier was judged by the numbers of days he wanders. Even in the case of severe miseries the purchasing and levelling of land never stopped. The land which he use to purchase even too far away from the existential site of the school, became a source of advertisement of the School. People talk to each other:
DEKHO INSAN SCHOOL YAHAN TAK ZAMEEN KHAREED LIYA

[See, Insan School has purchased land up to here.] It was an evening. I saw Dr. Syed Hasan sitting under a shed made of bamboos near the big pond adjesent to Prasad Bhai house. Dr.Qamrul Huda and a guardian from Gaya, Syed Manzoor Alam was sitting on a wooden bench. It was hard to me to ignore them. So I took a hello effect and sat with them. Dr. Syed Hasan was talking to Dr. Qamrul Hoda:
GUZASHTA DO TEEN MAHEENO MIEN HAM NE JETNI MITTI BHARWAI HAI UTNEY MIEN DO TEEN TRACKTOR KHAREDEY JA SAKTE THEY [In

the past three to four months I have paid such a big amount to rent the tractors for the levelling of the land that I could have purchased 2 or 3 tractors instead] 82

KEON? [ Why?]

asked Dr.Qmarul Hoda.

IS LIYEY KE MERE LIEY YEH AA SSAN HAI KI THORA THORA KAR KE PAISE DOON. EK SAATH UTNA PAISA NIKALNA MUSHKIL HAI[Because it is difficult for me to arrange such a big amount

at a time, and to pay the Contractors in installments is but easy for me.] Dr. Qmarul Hoda commented nothing on it. The guardian also kept silent. After a little while I left them and searched my colleague Nayeem Bhai and Jahangir Bhai to spend my evening. The teachers have spend so many Eid Alfitr and Eid Al Azha in the campus with their families that they were not able to purchase new clothes for their beloved ones, neither they had cash to bring some sweets or meat to celebrate the festival. Once, I remember that the morning of the Eid Al Fitr was dawned and still there were nothing in the house to cook special. I saw that Dr. Hasan himself was rounding about the campus. He distributed Rs200/- per family as advance. I took Rs200/- and rushed to market to bring some meat, as I assumed that without eating meat the festival cannot be enjoyed. One kilogram of meat will do nothing but at least it will make a change of taste. It was January 1994, the college was virtually collapsed. New admissions had stopped. I didnt get my salary for two years. In those days of hardships I had no way to manage food for my family. Once I asked Haji Aarif of village Burhi Mari for some help, he send a 100 kg bag of rice through a rickshaw and he also paid for the rickshaw puller. This was like Eid for me. Now I was peaceful for three or four months. A 100 kg bag of rice was in the house, I felt satisfied. Now I have to manage some oil, species, and vegetables. In those days of distress few students of graduation from Marwari College came to me for tuitions. Rs 400/- was the rate of notes of B.A. Urdu course. I use to 83

complete it in a week and I get Rs 400/- from the student. As I finished coaching one, I was astonished to see that the other student was ready to take tuitions and so far as, a chain was there, and I earned some money through which I was able to buy vegetables, oil, and spices. The time came; that the 100 kg rice bag lasted. Now again the house was empty. There were two more families besides my Quarter. One was of Mr. Abul Hasan and the other of Syed Shahid Ahmed Sami. Abul Hasans father was a big peasant so he used to bring grain from his village Bijhara, Barsoi. Syed Shahid Ahmed Sami was doing some partime business, so he also had money. These families were too kind to us. Whenever they got smell that we are starving they immediately send some thing for us. I and my family was of the mind that we let not tell anybody when starving. We kept our children at home and let not allow them to go to the houses of these two neighbors. When my neighbors feel that my children are not coming out to play with their children they certainly believe that we are starving, and they try to gather more clues and then plan to send some food to my house. As a regular basis I was reading the Hadith [Sayings of Prophet Mohammad Peace Be on Him] in my family. My children use to sit around and listen carefully. One day I read out a Hadith which means that if someone is starving and he never discloses it to any one for at least three days Allah will open the door of his mercy up on him and he will never starve again. We wanted to get it into practice. We prepared our children to practice on this Hadith. One day passed without food. Nobody knew. My children were going to school empty stomach. When they came back from school there was nothing to eat. Next day morning again dawned on starvation. My elder daughter and son were going to the school empty stomach; on their way to the school they both sat 84

on the soil and vomited out of starvation. Nothing came out from the stomach but a little water. I was much shocked. I took them back half of the way. In the house I find signs of vomiting at five or six palaces. I asked my wife:
YEH KIYA HAI?[Whats

it?]

BACHCHON NE MATLI KIYAHAI [The children have vomited] She answered. When the sun was about to set on the third day of our starvation, my wife called one of my colleague Jahangir Mallick. She gave him her golden tops and said with tears:
LEEJIEY JALDI SE ISKO BECH KE KUCH LAA DEJEYE ABB BACHCHON KO DEKH KAR BARDASHT NAHIEN HOTA HAI [Sell it quickly and

bring something to cook; now it is unbearable to look at the children.] Jahangir Bhai took the gold, sold it for some money and then he brought some grain and other food items for my family. Next day I came to know that the founder of Insan School /Insan College Dr. Syed Hasan has left for Delhi to attend a meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education, Government of India, to which he was an advisor member. I was thinking about the speech that the respectable man and the expert of education would deliver in the conference. I thought, whether Mr. Anil Bordia, the then Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Human Resource Development [an admirer of Dr. Syed Hasan], the Education Minister Bihar, and other attendees of the Central Advisory Board of Education could know the coverts of this big personality.? Malika Rehana the Lecturer in History who joined Insan College 85

when she was bachelor. She got married with her cousin Jamil Ahmed but was not ready to live with him at the cost of leaving the institution. She scarified her life in love with Insan College. Her husband never came to Insan College except once, nor Rehana ever thought to depart the Institution. Both spend their life separately. She was alone in her Quarter allotted by the College. Being a woman she could have paid regularly or some arrangements should have been made for her. When her miseries crossed the tolerance level she went on Hunger Strike. A petition was written, addressing the District Magistrate Kishanganj that she is going on hunger strike in the Campus for her such and such grievances. The main grievance was to clear off her due salaries. The Superintendent of Police was also alert as if a law and order problem could take place. There was not a single police man to watch over the situation. In Kishanganj this news spread out ashot news. Dr. Syed Hasan was trying to pressurize Malika Rehana by all means to call off the hunger strike, and it so happened; in the evening at 8:00 pm Malika Rehana suspended her hunger strike. Off course, it was a dishonor for Dr. Syed Hasan that one of her women staff dared to go on hunger strike against him. This also helped decline his image as a patriot. Later on Malika Rehana left the campus and took out-living. Allah knows how she managed to pass her lively hood. The hardships which Rehana has faced in her life while working in Insan college is neither known to Akhlaqur Rehman Qidwai, the Former Governor of Bihar, who was a senior of Dr. Syed Hasan at Jamia Millia Islamia and who had recommended Dr.Syed Hasans name for the Padama Shree award nor those hardships could be obvious to Karpuri Thakur, the Ex Chief Minister of Bihar who said that he notices the AATMA [soul] of Mahatma Gandhi in the body of Dr. Syed Hasan.

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15.

HAZRATJI on Notice Register

During my tie with Insan School/College for 15 years I learnt and minutely observed that in the first five years of his service, usually, not a single staff could think against Dr. Syed Hasan, rather than he would be a staunch supporter of him. As soon as he would complete his fifth year of service, he would be able to judge his actions, except the few who have mortgaged their conscience to him. They had never opposed any thing that even obviously happened contrary to the common sense. They had been on the extreme level of tolerance or they had lost their egos or self-respect. These great likeminded men of Dr.Syed Hasan were five in numbers, Abdul Ahad, Mozahir ul , Raghuwans Prasad , Suresh Chandra Mehta, and Zamirul Hasan. When Dr. Syed Hasan defeated the institution he owned a project of Adult Education and adjusted all of his yes-men in that 87

project. They were being paid by the Project which was sponsored by a Semi-Government agency. When the ITWA was formed we would have not crossed the 5 years time-frame, so we were among his supporters. As we crossed the 5 year time-frame we became conscious of his deception. I came to know through this time-frame that the mass cannot be kept held, or made foolish for more than a period of five years. That is why in democracy the time frame for a Government mostly consists on 5 years duration. Even if, why it is one of the main conditions to stay continuously in a country to get her citizen ship? I think it so because one cant understand a society unless he has spent at least 5 years among them. When the storm of ITWA was settled down Dr. Syed Hasan told us that the other revolution will come after 10 years. It just happened accordingly that after 10 years another silent revolution hit the Insan School/College and it unwrapped Dr. Syed Hasans emage in the whole country. Maullana Naeemuddin Quasmi, Equbal Wajid, Malika Rehana, Jehangir Malick and Abdulwahid Mukhlis were the main initiators of this movement. There was not any association or any formal platform for the struggle but a strong opposition was always there. Malika Rehana filed a personal legal suit against Dr. Syed Hasan in the labor court. It continued for years. The image of the institution was damaged. Once Maullana Naemuddin Qasmi told me that we could fight in writings only. As a result we started to unveil the coverts of this great personality to the people who were supposed to be the patrons of the Muslims Educational affairs in India. We were of the mind that if we have lost our carrier then at least we will leave no stone unturned to defame this educational guru so that the coverts and two-facedness of this great personality may become obvious to all; and in the future the society can prevent 88

itself by such kind of deceptions. We contacted Syed Shahabuddin MP, we wrote to Late Hakeem Abdul Hameed [Hamdard Educational Society, Delhi,] A.R.Sherwani [Owner of GEEP Co] Gholam Sarwer [Speaker Bihar Assembly] Akhlaqur Rahman Qidwai [former Governor of Bihar] and many others. We wrote many of them that Dr. Syed Hasan who has claimed himself to be the servant of the Qaum [Nation] has grabbed the hundreds of acres of land of Insan School/College in his personal name. He is not ready to let these institutions registered as Minority Character Institutions. Everybody was astonished to know the truth, but it was unable for them to do anything against the legal status. When this truth was unveiled surely the graph of his fame-line dropped down slowly. Now it was the common talk of the people that Dr. Syed Hasan himself defeated the Institutions to become its whole and sole owner. He created an artificial collapse to wipe out the senior teachers of his path. The case of Insan School was finally put into YACHIKA COMMITTEE [a Sub Committee of the Legislative Counsel, Government of Bihar, Patna] for enquiry. Mr. Sharda Prasad Singh [MLC] was one of its members. I and Maullana Nayeemuddin Quasmi met Mr. Sharda Prasad Singh [MLC] in Patna to make the proceedings fast. It was the last hope for the teachers. Mr. Sharda Prasad Singh told us the he will try his best for the takeover of these Institutions by the Bihar Government. I was also invited in one of the meeting which was going to be held in the VIDHAN PARISHAD [Bihar Legislative Counsel] Patna. It was a semi-final meeting for the final takeover. Almost all matters had been discussed. The Chairmen of Bihar School Secondary Education Board and Bihar Intermediate Counsel were present in the meeting. Now the date and the name of the attendees for next meeting was to be finalized. Mr. Sharda Prasad Singh insisted the Chairman of the Committee to call the Secretary of the 89

Ministry of Finance in the next meeting, but he refused waving his hand slightly. I assumed that the Government is not in the mood to interfere in the matter. I came back to Kishanganj. After a long time there was no news about the Committee. Finally when we met Sharda Prasad Singh at the residence of the Principal Womens College Purnea, he told us that Mr.Sulaiman Saith, a Member of Parliament form Kerala is advocating in favor of Dr. Syed Hasan so we cannot do anything more. It was the biggest setback to the teachers as there all hopes had gone. When our written activities were at height, Dr. Syed Hasan took the help of his younger brother Mr. Mohammad Shees who was a retired Chief Executive Engineer of the Bihar Government, and a superior among devotees of Tableeghi Jamaat in Bihar. He had been a man of honest throughout his service to which the people as well as the Government of Bihar is aware. After his retirement, he devoted himself all along for the cause of Tableeghi Jamat. When the condition of the Insan School/College got worse day by day Mr. Shees was called by his brother Dr. Syed Hasan to take charge as a Resident Director. As it happens with the devotees of Tableegh Jamat that they like to do everything with MASHWARAH [a collection of opinions]. So this matter was put before HAZRATJI [The Head of Tableegi Jamat] that, whether, Mr. Mohammad Shees should go to Kishanganj to work for the survival of the Institution? Perhaps, it is true that HAZRATJI gave his positive consent in this matter. It was a purely personnel matter of Mr.Shees which had no relation with Tableeg Jamats affairs, but when he came to Insan School as a Resident Director, a written notice was served to the Teachers that Mr. Mohammad Shees has come to work as a Resident Director by the consent [MASHWARAH ] of HAZRATJI. The line of the notice was as follows: 90

HAZRAT JI, MARKAZ NIZAMUDDIN NEW DELHI, KE MASHWAREY SE JANAAB MOHAMMAD SHESS SAHAB INSAN SCHOOL TASHREEF LAAEY HAIN. WO YAHAN RESIDENT DIRECTOR KI HAISYAT SE KAAM KARENGEY

[By the admirable consent of HAZRATJI Markaz Nizamuddin New Delhi, Mr. Mohammad Shees has come to Insan School/College to work as a Resident Director.] It was a big mistake which Dr. Syed Hasan failed to prevent. Even if, it seems as true that with the consent of HAZRATJI, Mr. Shees was in the campus but it was not good to mention HAZRATJIs name on the Schools notice register. It was nothing more than to use the reference of a great humanitarian HAZRATJI for the dirty politics of a School. HAZRATJI had no right to appoint anybody in any institution. Why his name should appear on a Schools Notice Register? I noticed the notice gravely and wrote a letter in response to Principal Mohsin, Miyan ji Abdur Rehman, Maullana Salman Janajhanwi, Nadir Ali Khan [all important names at the Tableegh Center in Nizamuddin, New Delhi] to place the matter before HAZRATJI that he must call back Mr.Shees from the Institution, as HAZRATJIS name is being misused to overpower the teachers and to prevent any kind of revolt from their side. I wrote that the Tableegh Jamat should not interfere in this matter. I further wrote that if HAZRAT JI has placed Mr. Shees as a resident Director of Insan School/College then he should be responsible for all affairs of teachers including the salaries dues etc. I dont know what happened to this letter but I know Mr. Shees left the Institution all of a sudden. I wrote this letter in sincerity to the Tableegh Jamat to which I am a staunch supporter. I can tolerate anything but I can never tolerate if the image of Tableegh Jamat is hurt. 91

Mr. Shees worked as a Resident Director of Insan School/College for a short period. I learned from his actions that speaking about Islam is easy but to stand firm on its values and ethics is too difficult. We can speak much more about Islam but when the time of action comes we forget all its limitations, morals, and ethics as we dont ever heard of them or they may not exist. Through his actions I was of the mind that the practice on justice is next to impossible. When a man like Mr. Shees who had been the heart beating of millions in Bihar and a very honest Executive Engineer in Bihar Government, who had kicked off millions of bribe-money in his tenure and has never accepted a single penny of bribe despite scores of life-threats by the contractors, who had spent his whole tenure of service at life risk, can fail to resist the CALL OF HIS BLOOD where next, one can look for the JUSTICE? The justice, when the Judge refused to accept the son of Hazrat Ali [4th Caliph of Muslims] as a witness to his father, the justice when Hazrat Umar [The second Caliph of Isalm] was questioned by a common man for his outfit, the Justice, when the Prophet of Islam said [while a thief-woman was going to be punished] that if Fatima bin Mohammad could have been caught in theft he would have ordered to cut off her hand. Finally, Mr. Shees said yes to the call of his blood, he bowed down before his elder brother supported his actions and tried to kick out some of the Teachers who dare to ask for their rights. I was supposed to be in the top of list, so he send me on forcedleave for a period of one year. My family was alone in the College Campus. There was nothing to eat. No payment at all. Once, Mr. Shees gave me 50 fifty rupees and said that it is a gift from his side. I was filled with thanks to Allah that this little amount could do a lot in Qutubganj Haat[a weekly local market]. 92

My Tableeghi Mentor Firoz Bhai suggested me to go in path of Allah for 4 months. This was my second chance for 4 months. He said that Allah will help you. I asked how I could go out leaving my family back without a single penny. He again told that Allah will help, dont think about that. By his assurance I assumed that the Jamat Colleagues may have arranged something. So I took my bag and moved in the path of Allah. I told my wife and children that Allah will open the door. I dont remember Firoz Bhai or Nayeem Watch either of the two gave me 50 rupees. For a period of one month I was moving in the surroundings of Kishanganj. It was the month of Ramadan. So all most every day we were being invited for Dinner, Iftar [a breakfast after the sunset which Muslims take to break the Fasting] and Sahri [a breakfast before the Dawn which Muslims take to start Fasting]. The fifty rupees was still in the pocket, and Allah knows that the same 50 rupees carried me to Assam in my 4 months trip. In my absence our Tableegi Colleagues raised a small fund to help my family. On each Saturday when the local market Qutubganj Haat was put on view, my wife would put on a Burqa, she would take a bag. My son would catch hold of her finger and they both would go on foot for two kilometers to see Nayeem Watch [one of my Tableegii Colleague], who was a watch-maker in the market]. They would wait there in front of his shop for some time until Nayeem Watch could look at them, and then he would raise his hand, call my son and gave him 50 rupees. This was the amount for the whole week. It continued as a weekly routine for a month or two. As the amount was not sufficient to feed six children, so, out of distress my wife wrote a letter to her father asking for his help. 93

My father-in-law Syed Masood Ahmed Fatmi., a resident of Village Bela Waris: Goh of the Aurangabad District Bihar, sent my 3rd Brother-in-Law to bring back all of them. In my absence my wife went to her fathers house with all my children. Our sympathizers at Insan School were happy to know that my wife and children went back to a safe place where they can spend their livelihood.

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16.

4 Months in Assam

Before starting for my 4 months trip in the path of Allah to Assam, I took photocopies of my testimonials with the intention that it may be of use. Besides my miseries, which I had left behind and the un-sheltered future of my professional career, I enjoyed a lot. In this journey, I had experienced lot of things which is rarely found in someones life. This memorable trip of mine taught me not to ask anyone for anything except Allah. So I practiced not to ask anybody for anything including debt. Although, asking for debt has been permitted by the Prophet of Islam [Peace Be on him], and the way shown to us by the Prophet is the way of success for the entire mankind. But I believe, at that time I exaggerated the point of self-respect and never asked for anything to anyone even if I could face big hardships. For example, in those days if I am going somewhere 95

and I lost my money or everything. I will not ask anyone to help even if I may die of hunger or fail to do all the needful. These emotions remained in my life for merely one year. In those days of my emotional climax I witnessed how Allah helps his creature. How He feeds His creature. How He reacts when He finds His men not asking anyone in even utmost miseries. Our Jamat [Party] was staying in a Mosque in Guahati city, the capital of Assam. I had severe fever attack. I had no money with me. I deposited some money to the Ameer Jamat [Head of the Group] for daily expenses and I didnt know how much it was remaining with him. Now the Jamat [Group] was to move forward. It was not possible for me to go with them. The Ameer Jammat [Head of the Group] told me to stay in the same Mosque until I am cured. He left me in the evening. I asked nothing to him. I dont take any medicine as it is my practice for a long time, specially , in case of fever I wait for three days and let the body fight against the fever. If the fever continues even after three days then I had been taken some analgesic or anti-paretic tablets. When in fever I had been always eager to eat meat, fishes, and highly spiced items. I have never stopped eating as the others do. It has always helped me in fever. I was lying idle in the corner of the mosque. Nobody noticed me. The Esha Salah [Night Prayer] was done. I also joined the Prayer. Now everybody left the mosque. I was empty stomach and empty pocket. I lay down on the floor to take rest. Hours had passed, now there was no hope for food. Suddenly a man came to me in the darkness. He asked me for medicines. I refused. Then he went and came back after a while, with a Tiffin-carrier containing very tasty cooked fishes and rice. I dont refuse and ate all of it. I was sure that my fever will go. It so happened in the morning that my fever cooled down. 96

When the next morning was dawned I was again empty stomach. I was thinking about the breakfast. It was 9 am. Nobody was there in the Mosque. Again I lay down, asking Allah to send some thing. After a while a man entered the Mosque. He offered prayer. I was gazing at him through the corner of my eyes. I saw he is coming to me. When he put his hand to shake, I noticed something in my palm. It was a 100 rupees note. He gave it to me and went away. It was more than enough for me to fulfill my needs. I ate, drank, and thanked Allah. One day I went to meet a young Muslim Cleric in Guahati. I saw a news paper there, SEH ROZA DAWAT published from New Delhi. I learned through it that some posts for Wardens have fallen vacant in Jamia Tul Falah [Islamic University] at Belariyaganj Azamgarh. U.P. I have never heard about Jamiatul Falah. But I assumed that it is a Madrasa and it belongs to Jamate-Islami. I said to myself: What can I do in an Arabic institution? I thought again and again and decided to apply for the post. I was confident that I can do the job. I wrote a forwarding letter along with my application. I gave a brief introduction of Insan School/College in the letter. I wrote openly that if they want to hire me as a warden and pay me at least Rs 1000/- per month, then they have to send me the fare to come for interview until such and such date. My letter touched their sentiments and the Nazim [Manager] of Jamiatul Falah, instead of giving any kind of reply to my letter, called on a meeting of his Managing Committee and decided to come to Kishanganj to see me, along with his three management staff. Unfortunately they came one day later to the dead line given by me, so I couldnt meet them. After spending 4 months in the path of Allah when I returned back, I was bound to leave Kishanganj, as there were no means 97

to stay there anymore. I came to know that Mr. Mohammad Shees had been called back from Insan School/College in my absence. The whole day I used to wander in the campus elsewhere, go to eat in the Dining Hall and in the evening sit and talk with my colleagues. There was a wooden table lying nacked on the top floor of the Head Office Building in the open. At night I use to sleep on it, without using a bed or pillow or any kind of covering. As it was the summer season so there was no need for coverings. In the morning I again wander here and there in the campus. The purpose of my stay in the Head Office building was to pressurize Dr. Syed Hasan through my presence. It was a message to him that I will not leave the Campus without clearing off my all dues. I followed my same routine for about fifteen days. Then, one day, I was called on and all the dues of my net salaries were cleared, except the amount of my earn leaves and some other deductions. The total amount which I got was RS17000/[seventeen thousand Indian rupees]. I had never possessed such an amount in my life. My all miseries had gone. I was too glad. Everybody told me that I am lucky that my dues have been cleared off. After one year, out of severe need of money I again went to Kishanganj, I decided to resign, as I thought that after resignation my rest amount would be cleared off. It was a matter of Rs7000/- only. I resigned with the hope that I will get Rs7000/- cleared, but unfortunately it appeared as the last blow of Dr.Syed Hasans deception on me. He wrote on my resignation letter.
DARKHAST MANZOOR KI JATI HAI. IN KA HISAB BE BAAQ KARDIA JAI. [Accepted and his dues should be cleared off.]

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When I asked the cashier Mohammad Jamil Bhai for money, he told me that Dr. Syed Hasan has told him nothing about the payment. Unless he didnt say verbally, he cant pay anything. I was so sad, that finally, I was deceived by him. Nevertheless, I came back and never asked for money again. I still feel the pain of the hypocrisy and deception of this person on my foolish act to resign from the post to get my dues [Rs7000/-] cleared. Had I not been facing severe miseries and hardships, and had I not been as much needy for the money [Rs7000/-] I may not have resigned Insan College, in the fake hope to get the dues cleared.

99

17.

land for Airport

Can anybody tell me what caused Dr. Syed Hasan to go to a remote area like Kishanganj in 1964 and start an institution which gained a national repute? 1964 is the same year when he resigned a teaching position in U.S.A. Was he interested to work in Jamia MIlia Islamia, New Delhi, which was his mother institution? The answer is: Yes, he was After spending 11 years of his life in United States Dr. Syed Hasan wanted to come back to India and work for his mother institution Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. There was a vacant post of Lecturer or Reader in Jamia Millia Islamia to which Dr. Syed Hasan was a candidate. The call letter for interview was sent to him, so he planned his final exit from America. All of them were sure that he will be appointed for the post. The people, who knew Dr. Syed Hasan in Jamia, recognize him as a strict man. So some of them hated him and never wanted him to get back in Jamia Millia Islamia. 100

They played a trick with him and changed the date of the interview earlier to the fixed date. When Dr. Syed Hasan landed in Delhi and went directly to Jamia Millia Islamia he came to know that the interview was already taken ahead of the scheduled date. Dr.Syed Hasan had no information about the date change. Now there was no room for him in Jamia Millia Islamia. It turned his Ego into a Super Ego and he decided not to go for a job hunt but to build another Jamia MIllia Islamia. It may have been in his mind from his childhood to run an institution of his own so he reacted in a positive way. He decided to go to Kishanganj to start a school. The damaged self of Dr. Syed Hasan did a lot in his life. A School of a remote area like Kishanganj could gain the National Repute was not easy to do. Had he not been deceived in Jamia Millia Islamia, he could have started his work years later. In the very beginning when he came to Kishanganj he, just not took a start, rather than he spent two years to understand the sentiments of the people. He worked as a Principal in Nehru College Bahdurganj, just to introduce himself in the locality. When he stayed at Kishanganj, sometimes he uses to gather small children in a field, he took a towel and comb with him, and he cleaned their blowing noses and faces, and then sang and played with them. Once, before the formation of ITWA, perhaps in 1981 he pretended to suspend his responsibilities as a Director of the School, out of displeasure with a teacher Rafique Anjum, he started teaching Class 1 students. I managed my time to visit the class to see how Dr. Hasan looks in the Class 1. I sat in the back. He was teaching mathematics, table of 2. He made five pairs of students, containing 2 in each pair. Then he took one pair of 2 and sang in a loud rhythmic way and asked the students to repeat in loud. 101

DO KA DO[two one za two].The students shouted: DO KA DO [two one za two] then he caught hold the next pair, pushing it behind the first and continued DO DOONI CAHAAR [two two za four] The boys shouted:DO DOONI CAHAAR [ two two za four],

then he caught hold the 3rd pair pushed them behind the two pairs in a rhythmic way and continued: DO TYA CHE[ two three za six] The students repeated: DO TYA CHE[ two three za six] Dr. Syed Hasan sang: DO KI EK JORI..DO.. DO KA DO
! DO KI DO JORI .CHAR.DO DOONI CHAAR!. DO KI TEEN JORI CHE .DO TIYA CHE.!. [One pair of two is 2.two one za twotwo

pairs of two are 4 two two za 4.. three pairs of two are 6 two three za ..6.] Thus the class was going on. Nobody was there to enjoy the scene except me. I admired Dr. Syed Hasan more and more in my heart and said to myself: Bravo.!!!...Dr. Syed Hasan, pleasure of my heart.the pearl of education..the teacher of the teachers.the masterof the masters, the expert of the experts..the artist of the artists..Bravo !!! Dr. Syed HasanBravo.!!! Dr. Syed Hasan. And so on, the class continued. I learned from him as well as enjoyed a lot. In the early years, before starting his School he often used to go to Mosques where he finds Imam Sahib [the man who leads the prayers] teaching the students, he used to sit with them and then ask the Imam Sahib to help him. With the permission of the Imam he uses to teach the students. This turned as a big advertisement for him. When the boys and girls go to houses they talk to their parent about Dr. Syed Hasan. Through this way this Education Guru introduced himself in the Society. He 102

became the topic of Kishanganj earlier before he declared the school opened on 14 November 1966. When he started the school his fame spreaded in the locality. Step by step it widened in the whole Bihar. He never used any kind of advertisement for the school. The repute of his institution widened through mouth to mouth. People who visited the Institution themselves became the source of advertisement. The school was firstly started in a rental building. Then step by step it grew and grew, leaving all institutions behind. A small piece of land was purchased. Then little more land was purchased, and so on near about 300 acres of land was purchased. It is a clear fact, that almost all land was purchased in cash, but it is also a clear fact that due to the name of a School the land owners charged lesser than what they could get from other customers. Whenever Dr. Syed Hasan intended to purchase a land nobody dared to refuse. People feel proud if they sell their property to Insan School. Mr. Salimgir Ahmed [Kishanganj] a teacher in the Indian Embassy School, Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, told me that Insan School had earned such a sympathy that if someone could come in the name of school and ask for something like bamboos or straws the villagers never refused. People sold their bamboos, land, grasses, in nominal prices. Owing to this reason a huge area of land was occupied. It was the end of a session in the School. I was preparing to go on vacation. Dr. Syed Hasan took me on a walk; we went on walking for three kilometers. We crossed the residential area, got across the Bahadurganj Road, and then walked far away. It was a big baddy field. I looked far away; it was all filled with crops all around. Dr. Syed Hasan pointed with his finger to a big area of crops and said:
YEH DEKHIYE HUM NE HAWAI ADDE KE LIYE ZAMEN KHAREEDA HAI. HUM EK AISA SHAHAR BANANA CHAHTEY HAIEN JIS KA APNA HAWAI ADDA BHI HO [Look at them; I have

103

purchased land for Airport. I want to situate such a township that can have its own Airport] Even though, I knew that an Airport already exists there in Kishanganj at a distance of 5 kilometers from the Insan School, I filled with admiration to Dr. Syed Hasan that how big his plan was? I thought, at any cost I must not leave this institution which will have its own Airport in the future. At the moment I decided to work there forever.

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18.

Low Quality of Kafan

I wouldnt like to grasp Dr. Syed Hasan responsible for the death of my 5 years old son, who slipped and sunk into an unfenced ditch, filled with water, adjacent to my family quarter at Insan College. It was a rainy season. The whole Kishanganj was flooded. I was out of my house with a Jamat [Tabligh Party] who came from Malaysia. The Amir e Jamat [Leader of the group] was a lean and slim man from Penang. His name was Abdul Maalick. He had been attending Nezamuddin [Tableegh Centre Delhi] regularly. The Jamat was shifted to Ghaspatti Masjid, in the down town, Kishanganj by late night. After the morning Prayer the whole party got asleep. I was in a deep sleep. Just merely an hour passed, I was suddenly awakened by someone out of my deep slumber. I got up rapidly from my bed. Nobody was there. All were sunk in deep sleep. My heart started beating speedily. I tried to restore my equilibrium. Who awoke me from my sound sleep? After sometime when again I was trying to be asleep, two of my Tableeghi colleagues, Firoz Bhai and Sohail Bhai came to me 105

and asked me to be ready. I didnt question any more but tried to assume that something may had happened uncommon. We were going to Insan College by rickshaw. In the way I saw people gazing at me in strange. Then I believed that someone has died or there may have something happened seriously wrong. I asked Firoz Bhai: What happened? He told me, AAP KA BACHCHA PANI MEIN DOOB GAYA HAI [Your son has died of sinking]. When I entered my house I saw the dead body of my son Ruman lying on a wooden cot. My wife sobbed. My elder daughter cried. I was silent. There were no tears in my eyes. I remember, I send somebody to a wood-factory nearby to buy some wooden plates to cover the grave. It all came in 25 or 30 rupees. The residents of Singhiya Village adjacent to the College Campus prepared the grave free of cost. Then I went to the market to buy shroud [kafan]. In Churipattti, market I stopped at a cloth shop. The shop keeper was a friend to mine. I had no money but I intended to take it on credit. The shop keeper felt pity on me and gave me the shroud [kafan] free of cost; he refused to give it on credit and said:
YEH MERI TAFAF SE HADYA HAI , QUBOOL KAR LIJEIY

[It is a gift from my side; kindly accept it]. When I was looking for the fabric, on my request he displayed some more varieties of white clothes but he insisted me to take a low quality which I dont like. If I would have cash in my hand I must have purchased a good quality of shroud [kafan] for my dearest son Ruman. I regret, what can I do now for repentance? Hence, I have the dishonourable shame to say that, I, then the honorable Lecturer in Urdu in Insan College and the unlucky 106

father of my dead child Ruman, couldnt afford to buy a shroud [kafan] for him from my own pocket. I know, these lines will not be regarded as an insult on the social standing of the owner of the Insan College, Padamashree Dr. Syed Hasan, who came to attend the funeral prayer of my son. An hour later my Jamat Party came to condole me. I saw Abdul Malick [the leader of the Party from Malaysia] looked at the face of my dead son and smiled, and then turned to me, he gazed at my face and smiled raising his eyebrows slightly, I also smiled slightly in response. The smile of Abdul Malick could be strange for anyone but it was understandable to me, as I have heard the saying of the prophet of the Humanity Muhammad [peace be on him] that the small children of a Muslim if they die could be accounted as a big grace for his parent in the hereafter and as a source of attracting Allahs forgiveness for them. I lead the funeral-prayer of my son under a bamboo shed which was previously a class room of Insan College. Then the dead body was brought to the nearby Graveyard of Singhiya village. In this way the graveyard of Singhiya Village became the loveliest graveyard for me. The piece of land where my 5 years old son Ruman is buried is dearest to me than all other pieces of land, except that of Mecca and Medina. Even after that I left Kishanganj, I use to take a trip of Kishanganj every year to visit his grave regularly. My elder daughter Milky dreamt the other day that Ruman is smiling in a garden; he was dressed in a bright-green outfit. We were happy to know this dream. After few years I visited the grave, I saw that its height has come to the surface and a piece of blue plastic which had been placed up on the wooden plates under the clay is peeping outside the grave. Although the School and College campuses were made of series of bamboos huts covered with certain kind of grass, and it 107

looked very beautiful, but it was never made technically strong matching to resist the slaps of the seasonal air-storm. Every year more than 50% of the huts were being destroyed, and it always took more money and time to repair them, but it never made Dr. Syed Hasan to think on solid structures. The life of the students was unsafe in the windstorms. No safety precautions had been taken to save the lives of the students and staff. Whenever the windstorm could come the students cry out of danger. They saw through their necked eyes that the huts are coming down. Even sometimes it already happened worst. Once, in the eight class campus, when the windstorm came at night, while sleeping, a child came under a falling cottage and died. Nobody dared to hold Dr. Syed Hasan responsible for the loss of his life. During the windstorms I have experienced the worst miserable conditions. When at the night as we get the noise of the windstorm we take all our children under our wooden cots and lay down. My children cried:
ALLAH JI YA ALLAH .YA AALLAH ABBU ABUU JI..ALLLAH JI .YA ALLAH KEYA KARENYA ALLAH KAHAN JAAEN. ABBU ABBU. [ Allah Oh .. Allah ..FatherOh my

FatherOh AllahOh Allah .what should we do Oh..Father .OhFather.? Oh Allah .where should we go?]. The Cottage started trembling and we listen to the sound of the other cottages breaking down in our neighbor, we use to keep silent and wait for our term. Then, after 40 or 50 minutes the windstorm could have gone and then we could come out of our cots and spend the rest of the night fearfully. The next morning when we could come out of our cottage we could see that scores of huts has been destroyed.

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What were the secrets in running the whole institution in Bamboos huts Allah knows better. We can only say that in 44 years of time span, running an institution in bamboos huts while owning hundreds of acres of private land, can never be regarded as farsightedness and sincerity to the Nation and as a sincere intention to build an institution for the future generation. It was just a temporary phase to gain reputation through mesmerizing the mass as well as the Government. It happened after 25 years that all the campuses which were being run in 90s no more exist at their site, except the land which still remains without structure. In recent days the big College Campus, 9th Class Campus, 8th Class Campus, 7th , 6th and 4th & 5th Class Campuses, and 7 or 8 big play grounds, where sometimes students lived, studied and played have been sold. A very secret source toled me that land worth Rs200 Carores have been sold in recent years. This was the fate of the proposed Insan University where we dreamt to be known as University Teachers, and for which the people of Kishanganj awaited for a long time to enroll their children. I salute; Director Dr. Syed Hasan for this success, who has been awarded the Honorable Padamshree award for his remarkable services.

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19.

Akhlaqur Rahman Qidwai

The visit of Akhlaqur Rahman Qidwai, then the Governor of Bihar is a memorable mark in the history of Insan School. Everyone was delighted. When big dignitaries come to Insan School, it appeared as a morale booster for everyone. These visits were a source of satisfaction for us. By the speeches and praising words of the dignitaries we feel boosted. A weak man like me who has struggled throughout his life to secure his identity, could naturally become more enthusiastic at such occasions. The state aeroplane of the Bihar Government took off from Patna Air Port boarding in its cabin the first Citizen of the State Dr. Akhlaqur Rahaman Qidwai. Just 50 minutes have passed in the air that the pilot gets prepared to take station on the runway of KHAGRA HAWAI ADAA. The landing time was scheduled at 07:30 am. At 08:00 am the Governor has to reach at Kishanganj Dakbunglow. 110

At 09:00 am he was scheduled to visit Insan School. Thousands of eyes were looking up in the sky if they could find any sign of an aeroplane? When they all heard the sound of an airplane taking a round over the town far above their head, they shouted:
AA GAYE AA GAYEGOVERNOR SAHAB AA GAYEE.. GOVERNOR SHAB KA JAHAAZ AGAYAAB EK GHANTE MIEN AA GAIENGE

A group of trained boys offered Guard of Honor to him at the Schools entrance. Viewers were astonished to see the presentation. The representatives and leaders among the students received the Governor. At such occasions Dr. Syed Hasan always kept himself in the back ground. He was not in the scene. The teachers were also in the background. His Excellency the Governor of Bihar visited the campus. It took one hour to the campus tour. Passing through different campuses he reached the College campus in an open Jeep. Our student, the topper of the class, Gholam Shahid in a colored gown, was ready to receive him in the campus. By rotation I was the In-charge of the College those days, so I also took the opportunity to receive the Governor. He met with the lecturers one by one, visited the exhibitions displayed by the students, and then went back to the head office building. Dr. Syed Hasan still didnt meet him. He was everywhere, but in the background. I witness that the Governor asked some one:
SYED SAHAB KAHAN HAIEN?

[Where is Mr. Syed Hasan?]

Parasad Bhai a Hindu teacher rushed to call Dr. Syed Hasan. Then the jewel of the Insan Complex Dr. Syed Hasan emerged in a very simple look. He met the Governor. They both sat close to each other on the dining table. I was there nearby to listen what they talk about. The Governor asked: SAAL MIEN KEYA KHARCH AATA HAI? [What is the annual expenditure?] 111

LAG BHAG 50 LAKH

[Approximately 50 lakhs] Dr. Syed Hasan [How much it goes in

answered.
TANAKHAH MEIN KITNA JA TA HAI

salaries?] The Governor asked. SAARHE TEENLAKH [Three and half lakhs] Dr. Syed Hasan answered.
YEH RAQAM WAHI HAI JO GOVERNMENT TEACHRON KO PAY KARTI HAI YA US SE ALAG AHAI? [Is this the same amount what

the Government use to pay to the teachers?] The Governor asked. NAHIEN US SE ALAG AHAI [No it is other than that] replied Dr. Syed Hasan.
TO IS MIEN AUR KITNA MILA DIYA JAI KE SARKAR KE BARABER HOJAE [How much it can be added to meet the government

standards?] The Governor asked again. Dr Syed Hasan escaped the answer and said:
MAIEN LOGON SE KAHTA HUN KI MUJHE MANGNA KUEN SIKHATE HAIEN? MUJHE JAMIA NE MANGNA NAHIN SIKHAYA.

[ I say to the people why they compel me to beg? Jamia has never taught us to beg for money.] Syed Hasan read the famous couplet of the great Poet of Urdu Allama Iqbal in a loud voice, as it was his habit:
KHUDI KO KAR BULAND ITNA KE HAR TAQDEER SE PAHLEKHUDA BANDE SE KHUD POOCHE BAT ATERI RAZA KIYA HAI

The Governor said while laughing:

BHAI HAM LOG TO DAFTARI AADMI HAIEN, YAHAN TO YEH HAI KE, DARKHAST DOGE TO MILEGA and this was the end of the

talk. In the evening the Governor came again to watch the cultural program at 6:30 oclock. Varieties of programmes were being staged. I was also the organizer of a one act play, it was 112

presented in Urdu. Its name was WAQT KI PALKI [The cradle of time]. It was a philosophical Play. It has the following characters: 1. IRADAH [Will] 2.TAWANAI [Power] 3.HUSN [Beauty] 4.MUHABBAT [Love] and 5. MAUT [Death]. These all characteristics were being personified upon the stage. Grown-up students of High School were playing the roles. I remember Naushad Adil from Thakurgnaj was playing the role of HUSN [Beauty]. Fateh Azam Rizvi [Jamui ] was in the role of MAUT [Death]. Mohammad Saleem from Rafiganj, Gaya] acted as Power. This was a philosophical play to which I was inspired by the Book of Allama Iqbal FALASFA E AJAM. It was the Urdu translation of his PhD thesis The development of metaphysics in Persia. I inspired to form the idea of this play from his book. As it could appear upon the stage that two small boys resembling each other [Arman Wajid & Tanweer Ahmed] wearing white Kurta Pajama and Topi, looking like angles came upon the stage from opposite sides. They raised their hands as Muslims do when they start prayer. Then they went in Ruku and then went in Sajda [prostration] on the edge of the stage facing to each other. They remained in the Sajdah [prostration] till the end of the play. Then from the back ground one after one the Personified Characters appeared on the colorful stage. All the characters were dressed in extreme white brightened clothes like fairies. White shining Crowns were kept upon their heads. They came and presented their dialogues one by one. First of all the IRADAH [Will] came up on the stage. He was in a beautiful look. He started his dialogue: My name is WILL. I have been assigned the leadership of the Human UniverseI am the onlooker of all the movements and stillness...in this world...look at me. Know my power.know my voice wherever I have went the 113

success and victory has come under my feet.] he stands in the back and waits for the other character. The other Character appears form the back ground. My name is TWANAI [energy]. In my absence not a single thing can remain.. I am the real power...I am the real powerI am the core of the universe. Look at me how power full I have been made.] then he stands beside WILL and waits for the other character. Now comes; HUSN [the beauty]. In a very beautiful look she starts her dialogue: I am the beauty I am the charm of the existence.. the whole mankind loves me. I am the beloved of all..the angels.. the humankind .the..animals.birds.. and all living species....without my presence the life is colorless. everything is tasteless..I have been created to govern the hearts.I am the core of aesthetics. She also stands in the queue and waited for the other character. Then the Love appears upon the stage and says: My name is LOVE..I exist in everybodys existence I am ..the pleasure of the soul. ..all living beings need me.I have been brought to existence to join the broken hearts.. I am priceless nobody can buy me..look at meI am the most important She also joins the queue one the stage. Two of the boys are still in SAJDAH [Prostration] on the edge of the stage in the same pose. Then at the last appeared the DEATH. She was dressed in black, rather a dreadful face. As the DEATH came, all the Characters started shaking and dying. One by one they all fell down. Then it was the term of DEATH herself. She said: 114

I am the DEATH..I have been created to destroy the happiness.I break the pleasureI demolish the joy..I demolish everything...and at the last .the death also dies. It was a rather a horrible scene. The two angles still remained in prostration, until the screen got down. The audience kept quite. It was silence all around. Then after a silence of three minutes the screen was dropped. A couplet of Allama Iqbal was being read form the background:
AWWAL O AKHIR FINA ZAHIR O BATIN FINA NAQAH E KOHAN HO KE NAU MANZELE AKHIR FINA

[The first and the last, the hidden and the unhidden will come to an end. All the new and the old will come to an end] The message of this one act play was clear that everything in the universe will come to an end, except the existence of Allah, who deserves to be prayed and sacrificed for. The two angels who remained in prostration throughout the play gave the message that Allah is the greatest.

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20.

Fire

Malika Rehana had prepared variety of programmes to stage for the Governor, one of them I still remember. It was a tableau, 8 to 10 girls aged between 12 to 14 were set to appear upon the stage dressed like birds. They were looking so good and beautiful that it went deep into the memories. These girls came up on the stage and pretended as they are about to fly in the sky. From the back ground the voice of Malika Rehana thrilled the souls of the audience:
PANCHI BANEGE ..PANCHI BANEGE DO DO PANKH LAGA KE HUM PUNCHI BANEGE

Malika Rehana was a real artist. She had learned to play HARMONIUM and singing songs. Although, she never made it her carrier, rather than it was her hobby. This tableau prepared by her denotes a profound and deep desire of the mankind, a desire to fly which consequently appears in the core of our soul because of somewhere in the life we like to emerge as a flying object. 116

When we see our imagination in a visual effect our soul thrills. On its every step and in its each line the tableau gave the message that the desire of the mankind is unlimited and that it is impossible to fill all of them. When the Governor was called upon the stage, it was quite silence. The audience was silent. Dr. Syed Hasan came on the mike. He gave a brief history of the inception of the School and recalled that the Governor was a senior to Dr.Syed Hasan in Jamaia Milliya Islamia. A small model of a wooden wheel made by the carpenters of Village Chakla, and packed in glass was presented to the Governor. He was told that the wooden wheels of carts made of Chakla is a famous product in Kishanganj as it is said that the wheels of Chakla had been brought to England during the British rule. The Governor spoke for 40 minutes. The security personnals said that the His Excellency the Governor has never spoke for 40 minutes in any of his programme in Patna, since he is sworn in as a Governor. He greeted the people of Kishanganj, the teachers, the students and all of them including Syed Hasan on the successful establishment of a quality standard Institution. He said in his speech: "Gandhi Ji ne Primary Education per zor diya tha, Gandhi Ji ki Primary Education ki theory ko aage barha ya Dr.Zakir Husain ne Basic Education ki surat me, aur mujhe khushi hai ke Dr.Syed Hasan ne Dr.Zakir Husaain ki theory ko amli jama pahnaya Insan School ki shakal mien." [Mahatma Gandhis theory of Primary Education, was brought up by Dr. Zakir Hussain in the name of Basic Education, and I am glad to see that Dr. Syed Hasan, in the shape of Insan School, brought up the theories of Dr. Zakir Hussain into practice.] The Governor further said: MUJHE AFSOS HAI KE MAIEN NE QAUM KI KHIDMAT KI WO
RAAH CHOR DI AUR DOOSRI RAH IKHEYAR KI, MAGAR IS RAH

117

MIEN MUJHE NOUJAWANO KI SLAHIYATON KE SMAJHNE KA MAUQA MILA

He told this because he had been the Chairman of the Union Public Commission for several years. The next day the Governor left for Patna. After a month or two of the Governors visit, Dr. Syed Hasan was asked to submit his Bio-Data to the DM Kishanganj. Then the Bio-Data was sent to the Governor officially through the DM Kishanganj. Later on we came to know that his name was recommended for the Padamashree award from Bihar and after some time we came to know that Dr. Syed Hasan was awarded the Padamashree award. The award was given to him by the President of India in the Rastrapati Bhawan, New Delhi. When the Governor left the institution, Dr. Syed Hasan told us that now our next target is the President of India. The President of India will be the next VIP to attend Insan School. Why Dr. Syed Hasan told us that the President of India shall be the next VIP to attend Insan School, because the teachers may not regard the Governors Visit as a climax. Naturally after the climax the interest gets down, so he liked us always to be in the future, and look for the other climax. The year the Governor visited the Insan School a huge fire broke at night and burnt each and every thing in the high school Campus. In my life span I had never seen such a big fire. We were in deep sleep at College Campus. We awoke with some strange sounds. As we come out our room we saw the sky burning. The eastern horizon was full of flame. We rushed to the fire and then saw that the High School Campus is burning. The flames were talking to the sky. We were just waiting in the ground to see what happens next. There was no question to get the fire under control, until it gets off automatically. Although the students and teachers were trying to through water through buckets on the fire but it was least to do. 118

A teacher of Mathematics and a virtual Sufi [mystic] Taqi Bhai, threw water up on the roaring flames with a cup. He threw some fists of dust upon the fire saying loudly ALLAH O AKBER. The students were laughing at him the next morning, but he was true because he did it with his religious conviction. When the campus was burning the students and teachers were trying just to stop the fire to spread, so they demolished and smashed downed some more huts in the row which could come in the way. The fire cooled down. I remember the fire-fighters came when it was nothing to save. The biggest problem was to see whether some students came under the fire or not. The students of the hostel were called on for attendance immediately, when the teachers took the attendance they were glad to know that all are present. Nobody can say what the reason of the fire break was, the loss of three hostels shaken the school, but the unshakable man, the hero of the Institution never wanted to change his strategy of running the institution in bamboos huts. Next day morning he arranged the classes up on the ashes. The students read and the teachers taught them up on the ruins of the huts. Even after a big warning the educational guru expanded the whole institution into more bamboos huts. As if he could have become fond of it. He always looked for the beauty and simplicity coming out of the bamboos huts and ignored the risk factors which were lying side by side. As a result after 25 or 30 years the bamboos huts destroyed and they left the huge land behind them. The land on which the Insan College run for years, the land on which the hostels were made. The land, on which separate class-wise campuses were running, was sold all at all.

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21.

Jamia to America

Padamashree Dr. Syed Hasan was born in a village Paithana of Jahanabad District, Bihar, India in the year 1924. His father Mr. Hafeez was a serviceman. He belongs to a middle class Malick family. The maternal side of Dr. Syed Hasan was richer. He was admitted in Jamia Milliaya Islamia, New Delhi, at the age of 10. His mother named him on the name of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan the founder of Aligarh Muslim University. She wanted him to become a big man like Syed Ahmed Khan. Dr. Syed Hasan talked more about his mother and less about his father. When he came to Kishanganj, her mother lived with him. She was not satisfied of what her son intended to do. In 1934 he was admitted in Jamia Primary School, New Delhi. He passed his matriculation from Jamia Higher Secondary and admitted in Jamia College. He took his graduation 1946. After graduation he was sent to YMCA College Madras. There he took his diploma in Physical Education. Then, again he joined Jamia Millia Islamia as a Head Master in the Primary School. His teachers at Jamia MIllia Islamia were Dr.Zakir Hussain [Who later become the President of India] , Prof. Mohammad Mujeeb [served as Vice Chancellor ,Jamia Milliaya Islamia] , Dr. 120

Abid Hussain [Educationist and Writer] Ghaffar Madhaoli[ Maths teacher] Akhtar Hasan, Syed Mujtiba Husain Zaidi, Akbar Ali, Irshad ul Haque, Maulana Aslam Jaipuri [ a reputed Muslim cleric] Khawaja Abdul Hai Farooqui, Barkat Ali, Saeed ud deen Ansari, Ali Ahmed, Waqar Azeem [a reputed Critic of Urdu Fiction] , Hafeez ud Deen, , and E. G. Kalat etc. He was very close to Dr. Zakir Hussein. When Prof Mohammad Mujeeb was the Vice Chancellor of Jamia MIllia Islamia. He recommended Dr Syed Hasans name for a fellowship by Lincoln University, Pelselvania, USA, which was accepted, and he got a chance to study there. One day the post man handed him a letter which seemed to have come from foreign. One of his colleagues told him:KUCH
DAAL MIEN KALA HAI AAP HI KHOL KE DEKH LIJIEY

Let you must open it said Syed Hasan and as his fellow teacher opened the letter and shouted:
MUBARAK HO AAP KO FELOWSHIP MIL GAI HAI

[Congratulations .!!!! ..you have got the fellow ship.] Dr. Hasan was too glad to receive the letter. Very soon he flew for America. He was admitted in Lincoln University and was later transferred to Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Dr. Syed Hasan completed his MS in Education in USA. While working as a Graduate-Assistant and graduate fellow he won his Ph.D. in education at Southern Illinois University. He was a member of Phi Delta Kappa, and Kappa Delta Phi. He also has a high regard for the relationship and cooperation among faculty and students. He also saw the transformation and expansion of Southern Illinois University under the leadership of its President Dr. Delyte Morris. At Southern Illinois University 121

he was also blessed with great teachers like Dr. Charles E. Skinner [Professor of Psychology] Dr. Willis G. Schwartz, [Dean of graduate studies] Dr. Eugene D. Fitzpatrick [Chairman of Guidance] Dr. Clarence D. Samford [Chairman of Education] Dr. Edward J. Shea[ Chairman of Physical Education] and Dr. Arthur E. Lean [Dean of the Education] Dr. Syed Hasan was a man of character. He said that in his 10 years stay in USA he never touched wine and women. When his fellow girls intended to have sex with him, he uses to escape them gently. He uses to tell them that even if they put off their clothes before him, they couldnt trap him to have sex with them. He always practiced to be more and more resistant of seasonal hazards. In winter he never used caps and mufflers. Even some time he walked bare headed in the snow fall in winter while a layer of half to one inches of frost could freeze on his head. It was the annual occasion for sports in his university. He decided to take part in wrestling. When the time came he was ready to take part. Among the audience there were male and female students, teachers, and guests. Dr. Syed Hasan took part. He entered in the wrestling pad, warmed himself up and came face to face to his counterpart. They both trying their best to defeat each other, his counterpart was an American. The Asian and the American fight each other with full passion and at last it was the Asian who defeated the American. Dr. Syed Hasan won the wrestling. His classmates cheered him. His teachers were joyful. The audience gazed at him in surprise. Later he represented the Southern Illinois University in wrestling. While studying in USA he also worked part time in Hotels. It was a cleaning job. The used plates were coming on a conveyer belt; if someone delays he will soon find a heap of dirty plates in his front. An American lady was also working part time with him. She was rather weak and slow. She could not maintain the equilibrium, so the dirty plates gather in her front time to time. 122

Dr. Syed Hasan not only did his work fast but he also helped his American fellow lady in her work to run fast. He was simple by nature. Once on the street he saw some stainless steel plates lying in the municipality drum. He was astonished why someone has thrown these new plates. He doesnt hesitate to take those plates to his house. Dr. Syed Hasan was much impressed with America and Americans. He always used to praise them. He laid the foundation of the Insan College on 24th of October 1980 and told that he chooses this date because it is the foundation day of the UNO. Even the color of the Flag of Insan College was sky blue matching to the color of the flag of UNO. Once, in America, his house caught fire due to unknown reason. He was out station. When he reached near the street he saw smokes and flames coming out of a house. When he came closer and closer then he knew that it was his own house. After the incident, as Dr. Syed Hasan told us that the neighbors helped him with clothes, food items, and house hold items in such a way that it was more than the loss. After the incident he had better house, clothes, foods, and house hold items. In this way he was impressed with the American people. He wanted us to be honest and laborious. Once it was an afternoon of summer in USA, Dr. Syed Hasan had to take a class on motivation in the State college of Forsberg. When he entered the class all the student snoozed and looked idle. It was the last class of the day. Nobody was ready to be attentive. The class looked too boring. Then, slowly Dr. Hasan started motivating the students, within minutes the situation was changed and everybody was laughing. The students felt themselves fresh and attentive to the class. When the class was over Dr. Syed Hasan told them:

123

My todays class is a good example of motivation. When I entered in the class nobody among you was ready to be attentive, rather than most of you were in slumber. What I did, that you all felt changed and get interested in the class is the practical example of motivation The students enjoyed most and admired Dr. Syed Hasan for his profound talent of being a wining behaviorist and a successful teacher. When in 1964, at the State college of Forsberg, USA, the award for the Instructor of the Year was about to be declared. Dr. Syed Hasan was sitting idle in a corner in the convocation hall. He was not expecting that his name could be announced for this award. Suddenly his name was announced and he was called upon the stage to receive the award. Dr. Syed Hasan remembered that when his name was announced the audience stood up in regard. This was a high prestige which Dr. Syed Hasan enjoyed in his life. In his speech Dr. Syed Hasan said that he wants to serve his own country and so he had decided to resign his position. The people were more astonished to listen it. This news was covered by newspapers in USA.

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22.

Clinical Psychology

In America Dr. Syed Hasan had many experiences in Clinical Psychology. In counseling he always tried to know the case history skillfully. He had rather than a strong professional skill to find out the coverts of personalities. In cases of acute depression when the patient likes to hide everything from the counselor he always got the clue easily while others fail to do. Sometimes the patients accept that they had decided not to tell anything to anyone but they failed in their pledge when Dr. Syed Hasan counseled them to tell the truth or to release their pent-up feelings. A lady patient in America was under his treatment in the department. She was extremely passive and non-cooperative, she never spoke anything. She kept herself absolutely quite. Dr. Syed Hasan was assigned the job. They both sat in a room made of Glass for hours. The glass was one way transparent. Few of his 125

teachers were watching him from outside as observers. Dr. Syed Hasan and the patient couldnt see the other side. The woman seemed to be of a tough mind. She spoke nothing to him. This was a big challenge for Dr. Syed Hasan. His teachers were observing the situation. Dr. Syed Hasan started the therapy. He asked question after questions. The lady kept herself quite silent. Dr. Syed Hasan pretended himself as a staunch supporter and a big admirer of her. As she gazed at him for a while the eye contact was setup, Dr. Syed Hasan stared sustaining her deep in response, delivering a strong emotional support through his eyeballs. He talked to her in a highly respecting, and admiring way, and in a very polite manner with an attractive approach. His voice was soft, near to the ground and extremely supportive. The eyeballs that pretended to give emotional support to her pains and let her assume to be a shelter for her. As a result she busted into tears, and then she spoke all about herself what the therapist needed. Dr. Charles E. Skinner, Professor of Psychology, who was observing the case became glad. He admired Dr. Syed Hasan for taking her into his trance. Now it was easy for him to help her in maintaining her emotional equilibrium. Once a patient accepts the counselor or gets in his trance, it helps healing the wounds. If the patient rejects the Doctor it becomes hard to take his heart. Ultimately it is becomes harder to get the patient any kind of command or suggestion. I believe that Dr. Syed Hasan successfully practiced and illuminated the psychology of Sigmund Freud the father of the Psychology. He was impressed with him and had tried to elucidate his theories in handling with the people. This is the reason that despite some sorts of serious opposition he never yielded from his decision. He used the Freudian Psychology in educating students the lesson to gain self-respect and to get hold of self-reliant. He used to infuse self-respect among the students by different means. He looked people as a psychological being. Through responsibilities, games, sports, speeches, punishments, 126

cultural activities, freedom, sufferings and sanctions he tried to develop his students. If, all of his teachings and methods can be described in a single word it is the Self-Development. He was an expert on Self Development He had the credit to discover the Power of his mind, as I remember, once, while a programme in the open was postponed due to the sudden break of rain, he said: The rain could have been prevented by the will power. He applied the Freudian Psychology in Self Development. He often used to say that the emotional equilibrium of a mankind can be maintained only when he is both professionally and sexually sound. The people who enjoy their profession have lesser chance to be mad. Same as the people who are sexually satisfied have lesser chance to be disastrous in their life. He himself always worked to maintain his equilibrium. As a matter of experience, the development works leave good effects on the mind. It is a successful therapy as well as a proven fact. This is why Dr. Syed Hasan never left the charge of the construction works to others but he always kept it in directly his own supervision. It was common that if somebody asked where is Syed Bhai? You may find him with the laborers had been the answer. Through daily construction works he used to control his mind and overcome the stresses of his daily life. He believed that every individual is a unique creature on the earth. He never compared one human being to other. He had the faith that not two individuals are alike. He motivated the students to search for their individuality and to explore their magical power of mind. Though he had profound understanding of the human psychology but he was more interested in adolescence psychology. He took little interest in children rather than the adolescent. He had the authority to understand the talents of the 127

youth and had successfully molded them toward an uncommon emotional balance. He had direct connections with the students of High school and College. From morning to the evening passing through the ways whenever he looked at some students and he observed any kind of abnormality in his behavior, he commented on him and played some fun with him in such a way that his complexes went off. He was of the mind that the formal education of a child may not begin before the age of five. In his personnel case, he never allowed his sons to read until they crossed 5 years of their age. He told us about his youngest son Shifa Syed Hafeez, that he dont ask him to read until he was 5 years old. As Shifa Syed Hafeez crossed his fifth year he was given to learn ABC book and it was surprising that he could complete the book in one day. Then he was given another book he also finished the book in one day, and so the story went on. As a result Shifa always topped his class. His problem in the primary school was that it was left nothing new for him in the class. For Dr. Syed Hasan the word success had the only meaning and that was to search, find, and explore the potentials of an individuals. He always held the institutions responsible for the development of a child. He was not satisfied with the education system in India. Once in the meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education, Government of India, he spoke that India is lacking primary school teachers. In the institutions he always held the teachers responsible for the poor performance, lack of faith and love for the cause of education. He wanted the teachers all over India could be trained in such a way that they could work as the builders of the Nation. When he saw that the teacher of his school proved no interest in a man like Syed Hasan he became frustrated. In 1979 in the issue of 9th August of SAPAHIK HINDUSTAN [Hindustan Weekly, a Hindi views paper of the Times of India Publications, he commented on the teachers as follows: 128

HAMARE LIYE BACHCHOON SE ADHIK SAMASYA BARE HAIEN, AUR BAROON MIEN BHI MUKHATAH SHIKCHAKGAN, IN KE ANDER KEWAL BACHCHON KE LIYE HI NAHIEN BALKI SAMAST MANAU JATI KE LIYE KISI SUWASATH DRISTI KA VIKAAS NAHIEN HOTA

Dr. Syed Hasan treated everybody as a psychological case. He always used to calculate the face value. He happens to know through the leer of his face if someone is disrespectful for him. He could trace out the hypocritical attitudes of the people easily through their grin. The fellow teachers never dared to face him if they are wrong. Nobody can dare to spoke lie before him. When in real or artificial anger he could blaze his eyes, they all felt captive of him. I say, nobody could resist his enlarged blazing eyeballs coming out of the frame. His loud voice always supported his blazing eyeballs. They all either leave the place or move back in such situation. When the storm passed away, then the surroundings turned normal. Later it could spread as news of the day in the Campus that Syed Bhai shouted on such people.

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23.

Interpretations of Dreams

Dr. Syed Hasan had adequate knowledge about the interpretations of dreams. He used to say that the symptoms of dreams in many patients have significant meaning. In his style of treatment he also asked patients about their dreams. When the patients hide to tell or tell more about their dreams he believed that dreams have more significance in the psycho-analytical method of treatment. He said that the dreams are one of the main objects of a psycho-analytic research. Although in his opinion the dreams are not the best preparation of that the neuroses, but a dream is itself a neurotic symptom. So it is one of the important means to gather knowledge about a patient. He said that there is yet another factor involved in the dreams which sets, in itself, all the requirements of exact investigations, provided that the descriptions given by patients could prove correct. Even a certain element of exaggeration in the description of dreams could mislead the therapist. Dr. Syed Hasan said that the exact psychology of the present day has repeatedly concerned itself with the dreams. The single 130

valuable contribution to our knowledge about dreams to which we are indebted to exact psychology relates to the influence upon the dream-content of physical stimuli operations during sleep. The first common characteristic of all dreams would be that we are asleep at that time. Obviously, the dream is the life of mind during sleep. He said that the dreams are divided into time and many combinations of images. The primary duty of a therapist is to understand that to which period of time this dream belongs to. Sometimes the dreams symbolize some stimuli in our life to which we are not directly involved in our daily life. Dr. Syed Hasan realized that we need of a new way approach, if we make any advance in our researches into dreams. He continued with his assumption that the dreams are a mental phenomenon. At many occasions he introduced his personal assumptions which later came true. In the interpretations of dreams, firstly, he tried to know whether the dreams are related to the past, present or future. He sometimes said that we are not to trouble about the surface meaning of the dream, whether it is reasonable or absurd, clear or confused. He believed that in no case it does constitute the unconscious thoughts. He often told us not to be confined on the substitute ideas for the elements of dreams rather than wait until the hidden unconscious thoughts could appear on its own accord. He told that the dream as remembered, is not the real thing at all, but a distorted substitute, which, by calling up other substitute ideas provides us with a means of approaching the thought properly bringing into consciousness. He said that we can interpret our own dreams as well those of others. Instead of being annoyed at the patients disobedience, he always turned his experiences to good account as a means of learning something new. Dr. Syed Hasan realized that the resistance invariably confronts us when we try to penetrate to the hidden unconscious thought from the substitute offered by the dream-element. 131

When I purposely chosen to read the interpretations and clarifications of dreams in TABEER UR ROOYA [The interpretations of dreams] the book of Allama Ibne Seereen the great Islamic Scholar, who had been a respectful upholder of the Islamic interpretations of dreams, I came to know that there are long chains of associations in the Freudian theories of dreams and those of the Islamic interpretations, but off course, there are some points of difference where the psychological assumptions has failed to guide our conscious. As regards the Islamic interpretations of dreams, it is not only confined to the psycho-analytic approach rather than it talks about the conscious association of the mind beyond the physical appearances. That is reserved and said to be plunged in the conscious to guide, greet or warn mankind against the good or bad happenings to which he is casual. It is said that the dreams are the 46th part of divine guidance. In the Islamic interpretation the meaning[message] appears directly up on the conscious but due to the earthly confined experience it cannot be understand at all, so it automatically dresses itself into a symbolic language. The symbols are sometimes close to our experiences and many times it variably defers form our knowledge. Once, Dr. Syed Hasan told me, one of his dreams that he dreamt continuingly for years. He said that many times he saw himself mixing the human waste [feces] form his both hands and making like balls of it. He dreamt it once or twice in a year, after the inception of Insan School. He said that in the beginning, the symbolism of this dream was not obviously meaningful to him, but getting a serious thought on this remarkable, un-identical, and ambiguous sort of symbol he recognized that it is rather than a warning for him to reassure his activities of service to the Nation. In other words the dream was peculiarly rich in content as its impression of strangeness is associated to the future or the present or as a whole the complete frame work of Insan School, which also includes the sincerity of the people as well as the 132

purity of Dr. Syed Hasans intention. The act of dreaming with the performance of an unwanted dirty work as distinct as an actual experience is consistent to his own real experiences of performing an act of service to the Nation. He said that after this dream he changed himself with more determination and strength of mind and as a result he succeeded to excess his unconscious and controlled the dream which was appearing regularly on the screen of his conscious. Once he send the message to his unconscious, with his strong determination that he will not give-up his work at any cost, the dream subsided somewhere in the fragment of his unconscious. In 1981 December, the annual vacation in Insan School was about to start and I was preparing to go home for the first time after my marriage, Mr. Saleha Abid Hussain, an storywriter in Urdu and wife of the renowned educationist Prof. Abid Hussain who had been of the teachers of Dr. Syed Hasan came in my dream. She looked too young, with a big widen face. She spoke nothing nor do I happen to say anything. Just, what I felt was that a feeling of pleasure-full happiness that I got a chance to meet such a notable short story writer of Urdu. She looked sober. The dream ended. According to our habit I drew a direct attention of Dr. Syed Hasan to the certain peculiarity of this dream as this dream merely reproduced the stimulus of my mental life. He told nothing as sometime it was his habit. He knobbed his head in a meaningful way and said: JEE..HAN HAI.JIJI. [Yess. It is .yeh yeh] Thus, I realized that Dr. Syed Hasan had a new way of approach of analyzing the dynamic conception of dreams. He used to understand quickly the relation between a symbol and the idea 133

symbolized in a dream. Symbols sometimes made it possible for him in certain circumstances to interpret a dream without questioning the dreamer, who in any case could tell him nothing about the symbols. In my above dream the symbol which appeared was common. It also includes the circumstances in which the dreamer is living. So this dream reflected my direct allusion with Urdu fiction, my wife, Insan School, and Dr. Syed Hasan. The interpretation of this dream will outline a squire in which I like to live long. It was like my worldly paradise from which I was forced to rack out in 1994. The association with Urdu fiction and my wife continued. It made me the writer of two published books in Urdu and the father of eight children, but the association with Insan School and Syed Hasan was lost forever.

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24.

Lecturers as cooks

In 1981 when the College was shifted to its first Campus surrounded by paddy fields, which later allocated for seventh class campus, Dr. Syed Hasan told the lecturers and the Students that he will not give any cook and that they have to cook their food jointly. It was a new experiment. Only the raw materials were being supplied and the Lecturers and Students were jointly cooking and serving the food to each other. There were all 50 to 60 persons in total in the hostel including 8 or 9 Lecturers. I remember some of the students were Mohammad Ahmad from Champaran Bihar who always goes on smiling, Firoz Alam from Kanki, Gholam Shahid from Kishanganj, respectful to the teachers, Khawja Gholam Shahid from Barsoi, always asking what is right and wrong, Ghufran Ahmed [Betiyah Bihar] soft with a serious look and many others. 135

We were cooking breakfast in the morning and then the meal in the evening only. In dinner we get a piece of bun, an apple or a banana or an orange with a boiled egg. This was all about the dinner. We formed seven groups, each of the group contained at least 2 students and 1 lecturer by rotation. The Lecturers and the students together cut onions and garlic, they blend spices on the stone piece, they slash, and clean vegetables, meat etc while the others wash the rice and pulse and make the meal get ready by 7:30 pm. The food was being cooked on wood-stove. Only the raw material was being supplied by the College authority. All come to dinning hall o take their lunch by 8:00 pm. In breakfast we usually cook grams, bread filled with potato paste. By rotation our term came a day in a week. We all had readily adjusted ourselves with this routine and believed that it was surely a significant experiment in education. What happened after a week or two that the students escaped this routine and the burden of cooking meal came solely on the Lecturers. Mr. Abul Hasan [Lecturer in English from Barsoi] told us that if the students have quit the experiment why we should do the same? We will continue it. As a result only the Lecturers remained there as cooks. No student helped us. Now there were 2 Lecturers in each group a day. We continued cooking the meals. The students use to come in time. We cook and serve the food on the table. The students come all at one time in the Dining Hall slightly bowing their head; they eat silently, without telling a single word and then go. This routine continued more than a week. Nobody among us complained anything to the Dr. Syed Hasan. One day as he got the smell, he rushed to college immediately. He called a meeting and gave hard time to all of us. He certified that nobody among us can do any big work in our life. He then introduced a new system as a punishment for the Lecturers and a reward to the students. In this system a cook will be there in the College but he will cook only for the students not for the Lecturers. The 136

Lecturers were forced to manage their food by own, either by self cooking or by eating from the market, not from the College Dining Hall. It was a collective punishment to the lecturers for the reason obviously known only to Dr. Syed Hasan. We felt humiliated before the students, as they were enjoying cooked meals all three time in the dining hall and the lecturers were forced on selfcooking. It continued for few months until Dr. Syed Hasan felt pity on us and allowed to enjoy meal in the dining hall. Dadu a Hindu Bengali was employed as a cook. He was as black as night, well adjusted with both the students and the teachers.

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25.

Physical Assault

In those days at Insan College a cold war was going on between me and my colleague Mr. Wajahat Husain Alam, which ended on a direct battle. He was also working on a teaching position in Urdu in the College. He was a poet, and had a nice melodic voice. He was the brother of Dr. Syed Hasans second wife Nigar Baji. I remember one of his couplets:
PESHE NIGAH WAHAM KI PURCHAIYAN NA THIEN DARYA MIEN PAAOUN RAKHTE HI GAHRAIYA NA THIEN

When Wajahat Husain Alam was appointed as a Lecturer I was glad. Actually, it was I, who suggested Dr. Syed Hasan to appoint Wajahat Husain Alam as a Lecturer. The day he joined one of my colleagues Mr. Buland Akhtar Hashmi, filled his ear against me saying that Equbal Wajid was asking behind him that what kind of man Syed Bhai has appointed? This pinched Wajahat too much. From the same day his behavior changed with me and he said that there are some hypocrites among us, we should be aware of them. I never minded that he is asking about 138

me. Days passed and he started teasing me whenever he liked. As a result his love in my heart changed into hatred. We were living in same room and cooking separately. Due to his boorish, haughty and ill mannered behavior I was feeling insulted most of the time. I failed to understand how to compensate the pain. The confrontation continued and I often felt that in humiliating me and in doing unbearable jokes with me, most of the times he crosses the boundary level that other cant do. When I thought deeply on this issue, I found that he gains confidence only from the feeling that he is the brother of Dr. Syed Hasans second wife, and that nobody can harm him in the campus. In my limited and inaccurate knowledge of Deen I thought that Allah will feel shame on me as to why I tolerate him at that much extent. I asked the same sentence to my friend Maulana Naeemuddin Qasmi. He laughed meaningfully. One day against my personality and self, I changed my room unwillingly and shifted in another room. I decided that if even then again he will pinch me I will surely beat him up. I told Mazahirul Hasan, to warn him on my behalf that if he will hurt my sentiment next time he will face physical assault. I am basically a coward man from my childhood but sometimes whenever I found my sentiments exceeding the saturation level I have failed to oppose myself against making physical assaults on others. This I learnt from my senior Muzaffar Gilani in M.A. Class in Magadh University. I came to know that being a topper of the class and being a lean and thin person, he always charged physical assault on others if they exceed the saturation level. I made up my mind that if a topper of the class can do this it is true and justified. When I shifted to another room Wajahat Hussein Alam enjoyed his victory. For few days he remained cold. What happened next, that in a wind-storm my bamboos hut bowed down and there was no option for me to get back in the same room again. So I again 139

shifted in his room. We talked less. We both were cooking separately. One day he invited Shahab Saharwrdi, on dinner. He had cooked chicken for him. Not the chicken which is artificially developed in a poultry farm but a chicken which grew up in an open domestic atmosphere, whose meat is obviously tasteful. I had finished my meal with Daal or Vegetable. After dinner I went to bed pretending to sleep. Then Shahab Shaharwrdi my rival came in to the room. Wajahat Hussain Alam and Sahahab Shaharwardi sat on the other bed and started eating. One time in a very low voice Wajahat told me to join. I said: No, thanks. Then he never insisted again. I was lying in the bed in the same room listening to their chat and the crunch of chicken bones, and getting the flavor of the spices. Shahab Sharwardi asked: Bahut mazedaar hai Alam Bhai, Kahan se liya tha. Wajahat Hussain Alam replied while laughing: Idhar se bechne wala ja raha tha usi se liya tha Shahab Saharwardi : Kaisa tha ? Kala ya Ujla? Nahien yeh laal tha ! Alam replied. Shahab Saharwrdi : Yeh baang deta tha ke nahien? Alam answered : Bang deta tha isi liye to zanbah ki ya gaya and many more chats, all pointed to me. Then, after an hour Shahab Saharwardi went and I felt easy to go in deep slumber. The next day, in the evening, before sunset, I cut two or three kilograms of onions to extract juice from it and then to put it on stove with honey to make a malt to use in acceleration of sex power. One Hakeem Ji in Kishanganj told me to do this. He said that he has personally experienced this formula. So it was the beginning of my research. I was cutting onion in the open near my room shamefully that someone may ask, the knife was in my hand that the Satan came to pinch me. HiWhat are you doing Equbal Bhai You do see. Dont you? For what you are cutting as much onions? 140

I have some work? I answered angrily. He saw my irritation and enjoyed: Are baap re baap haanth mien churi hai yaar ..Maar mat doge and then he .patted my back with his hand and said: Sher hai Sher .mera Shear hai I said Aaj maar kha gaya beta .Sala . aaj tum maar khagayahumse dekh saaleykiya hota hai ..abhi I was pre-decided and was waiting for a suitable time to assault him physically. I took a solid bamboo stick [it was one and half inches wide and three feet long] and chased him. He run into the room and lay down on the bed. I started hitting him one, two, three, four, five, six, seven sticks. He tried to stop it with his hand, so his fingers were hurt. When I stopped he tried to hit me with his blows. I caught hold of his collar, now his blows were unreachable to my face, it just waved in the air repeatedly. When I raised the stick on him Buland Akhtar Hashmi, rushed to stop me. I hit him hard on his hip. He turned back immediately. After a while the operation W star was over, I felt exhausted and cold. Alam told me while trying to control his breath: Chalo Syed Bhai ke paas. I answered: Tumko ssale .jahan jana hai jao,.. mere jane ka naam mut lo nahien to abki sale.khoonte se ..thokienge. Wajahat Husain Alam left to head office. How he reported this event to Dr. Syed Hasan I dont know. Next day I passed across Dr. Syed Hasan, he cheered me as usual, as if he may not have known about the incident. I was surprised. Next evening I deliberately went to head office and sat for hours so that Dr. Syed Hasan my ask anything but he didnt. I saw Wajahat Aalam was also there. Nobody spoke anything. Next day Mr.Jehangir Malick told me that Syed Bhai was saying in my absence that he found me mentally clearer than Alam Bhai. 141

Now after 30 years, I realize, what was done from my side was totally wrong. I had no right to attack anybody against his illmanner, but I would like to refer a quote of the famous English essayist A. G. Gardiner [1865-1946]. In his book Leaves in the wind. A.G. Gardiner writes: The pain of a kick on shins soon passes away, but the pain of a wound to our self-respect or our vanity may poison the whole day. We infect the world with our ill-humors that probably do more to poison the stream of the general life than all the crimes of the calendar. But no court could administer a law which governed our social civilities, our speeches, the tilt of our eyebrows and all our moods and manners.

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26.

Use of Negative Psychology

After the direct battle and assault on the brother-in-law of the Director I was expecting a final exit, suspension, or some compulsion for asking pardon, but nothing happened. Everybody knew that the Director is a high morale person, who never takes revenge for his own sake. It was a clear message from his side to all, but in fact he took revenge with me in such an invisible way that the damage spoilt my personality all through my life. I still see the damage un-repairable and I feel, unless something delightfully or divinely happens on contrary to it, it will follow me to my grave. I remember, once Jahangir Malick told me that the Dr. Syed Hasan has said that he knows the technique to descend somebody mentally to his childhood, but he didnt do it as if he is not confident whether he can get him back to normal or not? This is a negative use of psychology which may not be a legal offence but in the words of A. G. Gardiner [1865-1946] it does 143

more to poison the stream of the life than all the crimes of the calendar. I believe that if Dr. Syed Hasan had ever applied this negative psychology upon any one in his life, he has applied it on me. I am a living victim of his negative psychology. Just the other day after the direct battle, Dr. Syed Hasan started applying his negative psychology on me. Whenever I came across him after the incident he talked to me as if I am a child. Laughing like a joker, twisting his voice, curling his lips, bending his eyebrows, trilling the words, and doing all which was more than poison to distraught my seriousness and gravity. He treated me in the same manner for years, not considering the audience whoever they may be present at that time, a guardian, a student, or a colleague. Whenever he talked to me in this way the people smiled and stared on me in strange as if I am a psychological case. I was just confused, what to do. In this way the Mahatma succeeded to take revenge of his brother-in-law and he did swallow my existence. As a result whenever I saw him I felt nervous, and a current passed through my whole body. I felt my palms and the soles stimulating down out of fear. My voice goes choked at such occasions. Then he has to ask: Equbal Bhai .your voice is choked why? ..Is there any problem with you? NN.No.. I stammered.. . He said again while curling his lips, trilling his voice and moving his head to and fro, just as someone talk to a baby: Ye.s Yes .. there is something.which you are hiding dont you? .. Then he sometimes says some words in rhythm, twisting his head as if he was singing a lullaby. 144

Equbal..BhaiOh.Equbal..Bhai..m m.m.m..mmm My.dear..Equbal....Bhaimmm..m..mmmm How are . You .How .are you.. m mmm .. mmm..m mmm.mmm mmmmmmmm.. mmm ..my dear Equbal Bhai.Why you.. angry ??? mm..m m.m.mm..????? He continued his acting for minutes. I only kept smiling reluctantly. I noticed that if Dr. Syed Hasan is talking to somebody he is just as normal, but when talks to me he changes his style like a joker. This was his special treatment with me. I was much bored and frustrated by his negative therapy which at that time I dont understand to be as negative. As a result of this bad therapy I slowly, use to escape my colleagues, I like to spend my time in loneliness; I lose concentration and attention in my conjugal life. Little by little, I became a victim of psychosomatic-disorder. Many times I loose coordination within my body posture and my voice. My confidence chopped down. I failed to face crowd. I failed to face the audience. I used to avoid such occasions where I could be asked to give a speech. Ultimately, my confidence dropped down. I was a complete victim of inferiority complex. If there was any single place for me where I could enjoy my selfimage it was my class room. Whenever I stand in my class I felt happy, as I come out of it I was a misbalanced man. Unfortunately for more than years I failed to understand his negative psychology.

145

Luckily; I became conscience of it after years when my gravity and my own personality were completely destroyed and I became a captive of his negative psychology. In those days of sufferings I discussed this matter many times with Jahangir Bhai and Nayeem Bhai, they also felt that there is something wrong in the Directors attitude, but they also fail to know the reality. Once I discussed the matter with my friend Dr. Mohammad Rizwanul Haque Nadvi, Lecturer in Urdu, Marwari College Kishanganj, he advised me: Why not you also twist your face, bend your eyebrows, and change your voice in the same way he does it to you? I was motivated and prepared to behave with the Director in the same way he behaved with me. The same evening when I came across him, he looked at me and started his work; I reacted in the same way. I twisted my mouth on him while bending my eyebrow and changing my voice in the same manner and said: Why do you treat me in this way? .Why you always talk to me with bending mouth and trilling words? Is this the correct way to talk to an educated person? He was astonished to hear my words; he smiled in shame and said nothing. The other day he never treated me in the same manner, but he came upon me in a rather changed way, now, instead of doing like a joker he acted as a villain. Getting out his eyeballs; blazing it on me and dominating on me with his loud voice. Once he was angry on me for some reasons that I forgot right now, he saw me near the gate, he rushed at me as if he will beat me, creeping on his toes with full blazing eyeballs he said something which I forgot. 146

I answered: Dont talk to me with your blazing eyes. ..Have you your books in your shelves? .Dont you?.......... Do remember I am out of them. The rare negative psychology which the Director applied to distort my personality worked successfully and it changed my personality traits. I became addicted of humiliation, condemnation, insult, and teasing. I escaped from prestige, admiration, praise, love, and enchantment. I liked to live in rather a low profile. Being a successful victim of his long term egative psychology, I lost my personal guts and bravery. I escape from leadership. I cannot promptly take work from my subordinates. I like to work as a follower not as a leader. While being with laborers I could loose my guts. I will talk to them like friends. I always enjoy being with my juniors. I enjoy with children more than the adults. Even at the age of 54 I will talk to a 16 like a friend, not maintaining the code of behaviors. I always feel uneasiness in being with seniors. I fail to control people. I lost self confidence. More from the impact of the negative psychotherapy which the director applied on me is that he let me feel confused about my own. The same thing he tried to pour in the mind of the others. So many of them were confused about me or they felt that I was a stupid or a person to whom Dr. Syed Hasan treats like a stupid. The Director increased my fear. He accelerated my tolerance level to a humiliating stage and that it was surely too negative for a balanced personality. Due to the impact of his negative psychotherapy, I liked to adjust with low standard and illiterate people. The circumstances in which I have spent my Post-Insan College life can be set as living example. No legal system could attempt to legislate Dr. Syed Hasan for the application of his negative psychotherapy on me, or could recognize this negative psychology as a legally punishable 147

offence. But the moral and intellectual damage which I received from his negative psychology harmed me more than a physical assault and battery. I suggest him that he could have a more subtle and effective revenge with me for the physical assault on his brother-in law if he could have suspended me from my duty for a certain period, cut some money from my salary or have compelled me to ask for pardon, rather than applying a negative psychology on me through-out my stay in his institution. Had I not been attached with TABLEEGH JAMAT, I could have failed to find out the damages of my personality which appeared out of the negative psychology. I believe to say that the use of a rare, harmful and negativepsychology on me by Dr. Syed Hasan did more to poison the stream of my life than all the crimes of the calendar.

148

27.

Hidden Agenda

As per the hidden agenda to make a grand personal property in billions the Director always escaped to have any kind of strong relation in recognizing the school permanently with the Government Organizations. Had he been intended to work or sacrifice for the Nation he could have followed the model of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University, to build a permanent Institution and had granted it to the Nation. The School was established in 1966, but the students of Insan School used to appear in the Board Examination in the name of other schools. Except for few years when Mr.Karpuri Thakur then the Chief Minister of Bihar granted a temporary recognition for five years which later extended for one year and then it expired, failing to meet the criterion of the Government. The first recognition was granted to Insan School as An Experimental Proprietary Institution. If somebody can think of the legal status of the School, very sooner he will get the clue of the grand hidden agenda of the Director. The word experimental shows the grand agenda that when acquiring the land will cross the 149

saturation point [300 acres], the Director will create some artificial situation in which the teachers will stand against him and then he will luckily let the institution go fall, blaming it up on the teachers, and make the senior teachers leave the institutions. By that time the Directors sons could have grown up, completed their study, and have been able to take charge of the Institutions. It was all preplanned on every step. When the College started the students appeared in the name of Barari College, Karhagola; District Katihar. Then they appeared from Araria College Araria and then through Forbesganj College Forbesganj. The years in which the students were appearing in the name of other Colleges, Insan College produced its best results in the Mithila University but unluckily the teachers of Insan College never got proper appreciation for their work. Once the students of intermediate failed to appear in the final examination and lost their session due to the vague principles of the Director. Anyhow in 80s by some concern the Bihar Intermediate Council granted recognition to the Intermediate level and the Students appeared in the name of Insan College, but the criterion for a permanent recognition never being fulfilled. In the College I was the man who was being assigned to coordinate with other Colleges and University for official works. It was my extra assignment for which I was not being paid. I remember, when the College was upgraded to degree standard in Arts and Commerce, the Honors Classes were declared open in Urdu. The first batch was ready to appear in the examination. It was time to fill the examination forms. The students were prepared to take the B.A. Honors [Urdu] examination. Unluckily, just before a month or two to the final examination, the students shocked to know that they cannot appear in Honors Course as the Forwarding College [Barari College Barari] was not entitled to have get students appeared in honors courses. At that time Mr. 150

Mozahir Hasan, was handling this job. Hence, I was sent to Barari College to enquire about the matter. Luckily Mr.Anwer Malick, who was a teacher in English in the High School, had his father posted in KarahaGola near to Barari College as a Police Inspector. So I asked the Director to allow Mr. Anwer Mallick to go with me as we may need any help from his father. It was a very cool night. We went to Katihar by train and then by road to Karahagola. Anwer malicks parent treated me very nicely. They were much courteous. I briefed Rizvi Sahab about the case. Next morning he took us to the Colleges Secretarys house. We talk to the Secretary and then went to the College. The Secretary tolled their men to co-operate with us. Had Mr. Rizvi Sahab the Police Station In-Charge not helped us it would have very difficult to get out of the Bararis Colleges clutch. I asked clearly, that I want to with draw the enrollment from the College and try somewhere else. The main problem was that the Registration slips of the entire Barari College students together with Insan College students were on hold at Mithila University for some reasons. So, without the registration slip no College can allow our students to appear in the examination. It was a great task to take out the Registration slip from Mithila University. I came back to Kishanganj, reported the status to the Director and then the other day travelled to Darbhanga. Went to Mithila University, and approached the clerk who was in-charge of this matter. I told him that I need the registration slips of the students of Barari College. The clerk was a young tall man. He told me that he will do it against 200 rupees as bribe money. I bargained and bring him down up to 170 rupees, he agreed. He told me to come after sun set. When the sun disappeared I met him in the office, everyone had gone, and the clerk opened the Almirah and searched for the files and then took it out with him. We took a rickshaw and went to a hotel in the down town, here he handed 151

me the registration slips. I gave him Rs170 and we both departed. Next morning I met Mr. Nehal Sahab, Principal Millat College Darbhanga. I ask him to allow our student to appear in the forth coming examination. He told me if we could pay the fees for the whole session he will allow it to do. I was ready at all. I came back to Kishanganj by bus the other day and reported Dr. Syed Hasan and asked for his consent. He agreed. In the mean while a guardian form Araria , Sarwar Bhai pursued Dr. Hasan to let the students appear from Forbesganj College. Dr. Syed Hasan asked my opinion I agreed as a staunch follower. Then Mr. Sarwar took me to Forbesganj. He introduced me with Abdurrazzaque the head clerk of Forbesganj College. Abdurazzaque was a bold man; he had confidence to do all kind of illegal works. He had a Yezdi Motorcycle. He belongs to the village Rampur, near about four kilometers far from Forbesganj Town. He had his own office at his house. I traveled Forbesganj many times for years. I had become familiar with Abdurrazzaques family. Whenever I have to go to Forbesganj, I start from Kishanganj by 10oclock as there was no direct bus service. I have to change the bus at two points. Kishanganj to Bahadurganj Zero Mile, from Bahadurganj Zero Mile to Araria Zero Mile and then to Forbesganj. Usually I reach Forbesganj at sun set. Then I look for a rickshaw and go to Rampur. Then Abdurrazaque could come by Esha prayer. He could ask his children to manage a chicken. Then at the night a chicken could have cooked by 9 oclock we could ate rice, pulse, chicken, vegetables, and prickles together. Then the other day I could come back to Kishanganj. Sometimes I had spent my night in Nepal with a village friend of mine who was an auto electrician in Jogbani. He had his own shop. Once or twice I had spent night with him. Once he took me to a cinema 152

hall. It was a small hall. There were wooden benches to sit. When we reached near the door I saw that the people looked suspicious. An XXX Only for Adults, sign was shown at the door. It stricken me and my assumption came to true, it was not a usual picture. It was a one and half hour blue film to which I had heard about and viewed for the first time in my life. The relation with Forbesganj College continued for years. When Insan College collapsed in 1992-94, my routine terminated. In recent years I came to know that Abdurrazzaque has died. The money which I use to pay Abdurrrazzaque never had receipt against it. Everything was verbal. There was no proper record. The irony is that even the Principal of the Forbesganj College was astonished, when to saw new faces appearing in the name of Frobesganj College as regular candidates. How Abdurrazzaque could have managed everything is still a secret. I told the Director that the way we are appearing through Forbesganj College in not fair. The Director spoke nothing and thus an illegal act continued by me for years through his consent.

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28.

AMU Extension Centre

I believe that the real face of Padama Shree Dr. Syed Hasan is still not revealed to the Nation, or even commonly to the public or the Government. It took me 15 years to unfold the reality that being a very intelligent man, how he deceived the teachers, the people of Kishanganj, as well as the Government. The main aspect is that he called for sacrifice and made billons ... More than many times he had been found saying: 1- Maien tankhah nahien leta [ I never take salary] 2- Maien ne ghar ka paisa school mein lagaya hai [I have invested my own money in the school] 3- Qaum ki doopti kashti ko par lagana hai [We have to save the sinking ship of the Nation] 4- .Qaum mehanat se banti hai [The Nation is build of labor] 154

5- Hamen imaandari sikhai gai [We have been taught honesty] 6- Teachers yahan kamane ke liey aaien ahien qurbani dene nahien aaye haien [Teachers came here to earn not for sacrifice]. Can anyone say what the above statements mean? Not only the intelligent but an idiot can understand the meaning of these statements that Dr. Syed Hasan left America and came to remote area like Kishanganj to serve the Nation [Qaum] only because he wanted the Nation rise in the eyes of the world and for this great cause, he sacrificed everything. He sacrificed his life in America, his carrier in India, and everything that is expected by an educated man to achieve in his life. If he invested his private money in the institution to whom then the institution is owned to? What an irony? if somebody invests money in his own business and claims that he sacrifices for the Nation. Where is the loss? If he loosed or sacrificed his life in America and worked for the Nation in a remote area like Kishanganj, in its return he owned hundreds of acres of Schools land worth billions of Indian Rupees and won the Pdamashree award from the Government of India for this sacrifice. What the teachers got in return? Has a single teacher ever been donated even a single squire meter of land from the school? Was their childrens carrier not put at stake? Had they not spoiled their childrens futurebeing a devotee for the cause of the Institution? At the time of my joining when I saw the Director reciting the couplet of Allama Iqbal in the general staff meeting in rhythm 155

twisting his whole body, I thought that he is talking about the sacrifice to the Nation [Qaum].
AA TUJH KO BATATA HUN TAQDEER E UMAM KIYA HAI SHAMSHEER O SAN AAWWAL TAUS O RUBAB AAKHIR

In the mean time I became fond of him, because I had in my heart sowed from a long time, a profound love for the Nation [Qaum]. As soon as the time passed it revealed on us that the name of sacrifice has been taken only to exploit the mass emotionally. The parents, teachers, students, social institutions, government organization, and the politicians were exploited by him emotionally, except men like Syed Shahabuddin [Ex MP]. Everybody knew that Dr. Syed Hasan has built an institution for the Nation [Qaum]. Isnt it? People like to say Qaum ki cheez hai kiyon barbad karte ho Syed Sahab jo karte hain karne do [It is Nations property..why you destroy it? Let Syed Sahab do what he likes to do?] Sometimes the folks say: Qaum ka Idara hai.chal raha hai chalne diya jaiis men kiya bura hai..Syed Sahab ne apni property bana liya hai koi baat nahien hi ..faaieda to Qaum hi ka hai [It is the Institution of Nation. let we get it runwhat is bad in it.. if Syed Sahib has made it his personal property let him do..but only the Qaum is the beneficent.] It is true that each and every good work ultimately serves the Nation. A cobbler works from morning to evening, he earns money for his family, and he is serving the Nation. A farmer ploughs his field, he grows grains and vegetables, and he earns money for his family he also ultimately serves the Nation. Every positive thing is the service to the Nation. Education is the best kind of service therefore naturally it is considered as the best kind of Service to the society and Nation. 156

In fact fault lies within us. When we hear the word sacrifice we look at the model personality of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan who founded the famous Aligarh Muslim University. He worked for the Nation [Qaum] and he did what he could. The Aligarh Muslim University is not a private property. It is not an experimental proprietary institution like Insan School [these days Insan Group of Institutions] rather than it belongs to the Nation [Qaum], but when we look forward on the development of Insan School, we see that in the mind of the folks it exists as a National Property [Qaum ki cheez] but in the eyes of the law and its founder it is a proprietary institution. Folks still believe that it is a Qaum ki cheez [National property]. Let them travel in fools paradise. Owning property is not bad, but claiming for sacrifice all through the life and then making it of his own was certainly a preplanned deception with the Qaum. If a man like Dr. Syed Hasan could have tried his best to build a University certainly, he could have done it. If a Minority Character University could have been built in concrete what Dr. Syed Hasan could have gained more than the prestige. On the contrary his family will inherit from him such a grand piece of land [approximately 300 acres in 1994] that it can eat from it generation after generations. Bravo Dr. Syed Hasan . well done! In this exercise failure is success for him not the success. The recent discourse between Dr. Mohammad Sajjad, Lecturer Department of History Aligarh Muslim University and the intellectuals of AMU Alumni, to come forward to establish a distance education campus of the AMU at Kishanganj brought the cat out from the bag. Dr. Mohammad Sajjad, Lecturer, History, Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Wrote: 157

The AMU is comprehensively debating the idea of having distant campuses in different parts of India. While, the statutory restrictions/ ambiguities still remain to be clarified as to whether the AMU Act mandates us to go for such exercise. Statutory restrictions (if any) apart, this particular idea of the VC to have distant campuses is just extremely laudable. By way of suggestion, it may also be proposed that the long standing Insan School of Kishanganj, Bihar, may be requested to come forward in this exercise of having distant campuses of AMU. This particular institution [founded by Padam Shri, Syed Hasan], till 1980s, used to be a quality institution which has produced great luminaries like talented doctors, journalists and civil servants (some of them graduated from AMU itself). If the negotiation with the Insan School materializes, then one great advantage with the AMU would be that it will not face the problem of procuring land as the Insan School possesses sufficient land. We need not add that the 70% of the population of the district of Kishanganj comprises of Muslims, with painfully low degree of literacy. Of late, this historic institution has fallen into crises, it would therefore, be great if the recent exercise of AMU could rescue the institution from such crises. Dr. Nadeem Zafar Jilani, MBBS (1994), MD (Paediatrics-98), MRCPCH, Paediatrician, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital , UK wrote: I congratulate Mr. Sajjad for arguing the case for opening AMU's distant education campus in Bihar. If AMU has to live up to the dreams of its founder and its constitutional responsibility to work for the educational advancement of Muslims of India under 5(2)(c) of the AMU Act, then Bihar and Bengal deserve most of its attention. As rightly pointed out by Mr. Sajjad, Kishanganj being a bridge 158

(situated at the border) between Bengal and Bihar and a district with largest Muslim population (outside Kashmir) which boasts of having a unique educational institution of its kind already there in the form of Insan School, will be an ideal choice. Insan School was founded by Dr. Syed Hassan who besides having been awarded Padam-shree has also been nominated for Noble Peace Prize in recent past. He is a great educationist of our times and has been a member of Central Advisory Board for Education in India. He was inspired by Sir Syed Ahmed khan and wanted to work for the upliftment of Muslims of India. After getting his Ph.D. in education at Southern Illinois University (US), in 1962, he became an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Frost burg State University, Maryland, where he also earned Instructor of the year award. In 1965 he left his illustrious career in USA to return to India and chose Kishanganj to start his educational experiment because of its sizeable Muslim population and ducational backwardness. He started an educational mission by the name of Taleemi Mission Core (Educational Mission Core). His mission statement was "to produce educated people with all round development and not merely degree holders". Insan School, Insan College and Insan Adult Education School which came out as a result of this mission are spread in a campus (called Shiksha Nagar) of about 120 hectares. The golden period of Insan School has been between 1970-1995 in which it was regarded the best School for overall personality development in the area attracting students from not only Bihar and Bengal but also from eastern UP , north eastern states and Nepal. During this period it produced hundreds of professionals including Civil Servants, Doctors, Engineers and successful businessmen. At that time people predicted it will be a future Muslim University. Unfortunately due to lack of resources, no government funding 159

and leg pulling (which is universal to all Muslim-run institutions) it saw many setbacks in recent past. However it still has the land, Infrastructure and a very trusted and credible leader (in the form of Dr. Syed Hassan). If AMU can open one of its distant campuses here, it will be a real tribute to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as it was Sir Syed in the first place who inspired Dr. Syed Hassan to embark on his mission. Although himself not educated in Aligarh (studied in Jamia Millia) Dr. Syed Hassan is a true ALIGARIAN, better than many of us, who are just serving lip service to Sir Syed's mission. I appeal to EC, AMU court and honorable vice chancellor to establish formal contacts with Insan School which has always been a satellite campus of AMU in its spirit. It will help thousands of Muslim students of that region. Now see the reactions and silly arguments of Saba Syed Hafeez, the elder son of Dr. Syed Hasan, residing in America, for not accepting the proposal: Dear Alig Beraderi, AOA!, Some 43 years ago, upon returning from US, INSAN's founder Dr. Syed Hasan, had a vision of having a Kishanganj based (due to its strategic location) multi-centers institution throughout the India. The vision is still alive as part of our charter. However, then the idea was so radical that many thought of him being a spy or total nut. Due to limited circumstances, resources, and help, he concentrated his efforts in developing INSAN a unique and model educational and humanitarian institution which attracted people from Kerala to Kashmir, and whose alumni are now everywhere from Hyderabad to Harvard, and which changed the educational and social dynamics in the northeastern gateway of India.

160

In last 135 years or so we have done a pathetic job in spreading the education into the needy masses, particularly among Muslims. We should have at least ten campuses of AMU and another ten-fifteen institutions like AMU, and hundreds of colleges and thousands of schools by now. We all know that Sir Syed never envisioned this disastrous outcome. Multi-Campuses, Distance Learning Centers, University Extensions, collaborations and help to others institutions and feeder educations, and opening feeder institutions. There are a host of the things which can be explored and implemented to fulfill the social need and Sir Syed's dream by the likes of AMU, JMI, and Jamia Hamdard. The current initiatives and discussion are healthy signs of our awakening to the cause. And we salute the Vice Chancellor Prof. P.K. Abdul Azis for taking the lead. Last ten-fifteen years are also very encouraging as we witness more and more efforts in this regard throughout India. Dr. A. R. Kidwai Saheb's effort to initiate the deemed university in West Bengal is extremely admirable. He had done similar sanction for the INSAN University in the past but due to the obstacle created by our own members of the community (alas), the initiative is still in pending stages. When there is a will there is a way. The laws are made, amended, and changed over time to reflect the needs. Having AMU multiple campuses has nothing to do with affiliation. There are many engineering colleges in Delhi and Bombay and none of them are affiliated with IIT-Delhi or IIT-Bombay. Creation of a university is a long process unless one is Leland Stanford, or gets help from person like him, or is totally backed by government generous funding and logistics. It took almost 50 years to evolved Sir Syed movement and Hakeem Saheb's dream into AMU and Jamia Hamdard. Similarly Jamia Millia Islamia which started in 1920 finally became the central university in 1988. InshaAllah sooner we will start sooner we will get to our 161

goals. At INSAN we are open to the ideas. Our goal is not to become a branch of AMU but be part of the collaborative efforts to our collective cause. Definitely INSAN's location being at the junction of Bihar, Bengal, Assam, Nepal etc, and the regions Muslim demographic will be a plus. Similar locations should be also considered in other part of the India, such as in the west and in the south. I will like to thank Dr. Mohammad Sajjad Saheb, and Dr. Nadeem Zafar Jilani for considering INSAN School/College in this regard. May Allah accept our intentions and efforts? -------- Saba Syed Hafeez, PUC 1979, INSAN Foundation, Los Angeles,
United States of America.

After the above comments of Saba Syed Hafeez is there any doubt that the Insan School and Insan College is not the property of Qaum rather than a grabbed private property snatched from the mouth of the Qaum with a long term deception. Is it fair for Saba Syed Hafeez to suggest some other place in South India rather than in Bihar for the Extension centre of the Aligarh Muslim University? Does his suggestion protects the interest of the people of Kishanganj and Biharor it safeguards his personnel interest?

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29.

Image as patriot

Syed Shahabuddin Ex-MP wrote: The anonymous story of Syed Bhai and his Insan School makes no contemporary sense. I was MP for Kishanganj for two terms 1985-1989 and 1991-1996 and fell in love with the Insan School in first sight. I also came to know Dr. Syed Hasans family well. I pressed the Government of Bihar to recognize and aid the School. I gave it some assistant from MPs fund and that was few lakhs only. In 1991 I took R.K.Hegde to the school. At that time Insan School was a unique institution that attracted difficult boys from all parts of Bihar and neighboring areas of West Bengal, for being moulded into creative humans. Slowly a huge piece of land was acquired for the School bit-by-bit through donations and income from the School. Then came the conflict between the teachers and Dr. Hasan. The teachers began demanding higher salaries and allowances as the School was no longer a poor mans show, it was generating a good income. I tried to mediate so that the institution was saved. But Dr. Hasan took the stand that the school was his 163

personal property and he could hire and fire the staff at will. It came out that all the land [approximately 300 of acers] on which the School was spread had been purchased by him in his own name or in the name of her relatives. I suggested to him that he should transfer the land to the school and link the School with the Literary Core Mission which he had founded when he came to Kishanganj and let the members of the Mission request him to serve as Life Director for School. But he would have none of it. So all good teachers left; the enrollment went down. Today it still exists-as a shadow of its glorious past. At the peak, the land was dotted with neat cottages surrounded by green plants. Today it lies; barren. And Dr. Syed Hasan continues to preside over the wilderness. It is said that most of the land has been sold and the money pocketed by the family. No mission can survive without transparency and selflessness. Once motivated by greed, this great educational experiment had to fail and it has. Can a nomination for Noble Prize __ a preposterous idea, therefore, nothing more than a formality --- restore the Mission and regain personally for him his lost prestige? Considering Insan School as a Minority welfare institution, once Brother Amanullah, the notable Muslim figure asked Dr. Syed Hasan for the possibility to take space for the proposed Distance Education Centre of AMU at Kishanganj, but the negotiation failed. I came to know that he asked in a beautiful way: HUZOOR HAM LOG CHAHTE HAIEN KE AAP IS PROJECT KO GOUD
LE LI JIYE

164

As narrated by my friend Maulana Naeemuddin Quasmi, Dr. Syed Hasan was frightened:
HAM TO CHAHTE HAIEN KE YE INSAN SCHOOL KHUD HI UNIVERSITY HO JAYE

When Brother Amanullah came out he asked:

YE AB BIMAAR HOGAYE HAIEN, IN KO INKE HAAL PER CHOR DIYA JAYE

Few months later by the efforts of the sitting MP of Kishanganj, Maullana Israr Sahib 250 acres of Government land was located beside the Mahananda River and was granted to Aligarh Muslim University by Mr. Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister of Bihar. Now the Distance Education Centre of Aligarh Muslim University is going to be settled at Kishanganj despite a continuous chaos created by the members of ABVP. Refusing to provide land for the Aligarh Muslim University Distance Education Center is the failure of Padamashree Dr. Syed Hasans image as a servant to the Nation. Had the land of Insan School/ Insan College belong to the people of Kishanganj it could have gone to the people of Kishanganj. There was not a better idea in the interest of the people of Kishanganj, in the present time, than to help them in opening a branch of the Aligarh Muslim University. Hence, the opening of AMU Distance Center in Kishanganj authenticates the death of the Philosophy of Padamashree Dr. Syed Hasan, who, after returning from America, claimed that he want to open a University for the people and that he doesnt want to take salary against his service. But we saw that he slowly became the owner of the whole schools land [approximately 300 acres in 1994], which was assumed to be the property of the people of Kishanganj. He stated that he is going to build a 165

University, but never tried for it in a right track. It was just a buzz, only to hypnotize the folks themselves. However, it will be unjust to condemn the educational advantage what the people of Kishanganj, Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, UP, and Assam achieved from him. The psychological environment which he provided to his students was unmatchable in the academic picture of India. He worked harder and harder, day and night to provide his students the best kind of treatment, conducive to their emotional growth and to meet the requirements of their dynamic age groups. The students who passed Insan School are lucky that they were treated in such a way that can never be imagined. Being students they enjoyed such a prestige that was unmatchable to its kind. In 44 years Dr. Syed Hasan also faced opposition from some of the people of the Kishanganj. In the beginning some people came to enquire about his American Degree, whether it is false or true. In 60s he told a Hakeemji, who was disrespectful to him: I am not sure what my efforts will do, but I am sure that I will certainly take 2 meters of Kisanganjs soil for my corpse. Hakeemji kept quite. Some of his opponents among Muslims figures are still alive and they are known as VIPs in Kishanganj. Some families who supported him blindly in every stance are Manzoor Sahabs family who resided in the campus, Mohd.Yusuf Sahab who also lived in the school campus. Principal Haneef Sahab of Nehru College, he also took berth to stay in the campus with family. The family of Dr. Qamrul Hoda was very attached to the school. Dr. Aabdussllam had been his staunch supporter. Mohammad Muzaffar Sahab [Hamdard] of Pani Bagh Mohallah was one of his best supporters. Dr. Ameer Ahmed and Yusuf Sarfrazi [Shoe Shop] and Abdul Aziz Sahab [Shoe Shop] had been the 166

sympathizer of Insan School. Mr. Fazlur Rahman [Fazlu Babu] of Pdampur Estate will also be remembered as his supporter. Mohammad Mujeeb of Mujabari was so attached to the school as if he was one of its members. Among Hindus Dr. Shyam Lal Saha was a supporter to Dr. Syed Hasan. Among the political personalities Yusuf Sahab [MP from Siwan] Mohammad Hussain Azad [Minister: Congress] and Rafique Alam [Minister: Congress] were among his alleys. They all send their siblings at Insan School to study and grow in the peculiar academic environment. They all loved and admired Dr. Syed Hasan all through the life, but when they came to know that Syed Bhai has become the proprietor of the institution they were sad. But even due to the high respect and love for Dr. Syed Hasan and the benefit which they have had with the school they dont like to say anything against the person to whom they had admired as a Maseeha for the Muslims.

167

30. Nigar De Mall

My mobile rang at 1:00 pm when I was in my office my student, Dr Afaque Akhtar an Insan alumnus from New York was on the other side of the phone: Iqbal Bahi . Main Afaque bol raha hun aap ko mera mail mila tha?Haan Bahi haan . Mere pyare Aafaque bolo kaise ho.?Bahut theek haien Iqbal Bahi bus aap logon ki do a hain. Bahut achchi baat hai Aap ki autobiography parh raha hun.bahut achchi hai.. Yeh kitabi soorat mein chapi hai ya nahien Nahen kitabi soorat mien naheen chapi hai magar chapwane ka irada hai Zaroor chapwaiyeIqbal Bahi.main bhi is ke chapne mien contribute karonnga aap ne theek likha hai.main kahta hun ke Syed Hasan shooroo mein yeh kahta ki Insan School meri property hai. Ham teachron ko ek saal mien sau [100] rupya 168

denge rhana hai to raho jana hai...to chale jaw to koi baat nahen thi..magar...Qaum ki cheez kah ke aur logon se qurbaani maangne ke baad sari zameen apne naam se kar liya yeh achchi baat nahen hai Now in these closing lines I feel shame to say that in the whole 44 years exercise of Insan School, Dr. Syed Hasan is the main looser. The peak of fame upon which he was expected in the recent years fell down. Even being a Padamashree he loosed his carrier as a patriot and philanthropist and as an upholder of Sir Syed Armed Khans Philosophy. The people who will go closer to his efforts will never realize him as a second Sir Syed Armed Khan. I believe that the education of Dr. Syed Hasan and his profound enthusiastic approach towards training and personality development are undoubtedly unmatchable to Sir Armed Khan. He had more potentials than Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. He was an unbeaten man who could never be defeated by anyone, the leader of the hearts, the mass hypnotizer, the best organizer and a best time manager, the king of the art of seduction, and a great man who deserves more than what he was admired by the folks and the Government. He could have been undeniably regarded as a great asset for the Indian Muslims, but unfortunately he twisted himself from the Service of the Qaum to the Service for his family. There may be some very personnel sorts of stress behind this exercise that may inspired this man to turn away from his goal. The failure of Insan School resulted in the increase of many private residential schools in Kishanganj, some of them opened by the Insan alumni. The Crescent Public School, Sir Syed Public School, Azad Public School, Heritage International School, Bal Mandir, Tauheed Academy and many others. Now the Kishanganj town has become a Town of Residential Schools. The opening of the Distance Education Centre of the AMU 169

threw water on all the efforts that was being done by Dr. Syed Hasan. As Syed Shahabuddin [Ex MP] asked me in 2007 during a function of the Aligarh Muslim University Alumni at Jubail, Saudi Arabia: Haan zameen Bech rahe haien aur Kha rahe haien [Yes! He sells the land and eats.] Padama-Shree Dr. Syed Hasan who grabbed such a huge piece of land may be afraid for the possibility of a mass agitation in Kishanganj in future against his sons who will inherit the huge property. Therefore as a precautionary strategy he is trying to sell all the schools land and spread out his business from Education to Commercial Trading. Recently he has declared open a big shopping complex in Kishanganj. This shopping complex is named as NIGAR DE MALL. It will contain 100s of shops. It will be first of its kind in the history of Bihar. If this project will be successful more MALLS will be opened in different cities of Bihar and also in other part of the country mainly in Delhi close to Jamia Nagar. Later on it can emerge as an International Trading Center out of India. Further his sons will feel safe to offer the school to an influential person from the local soil to run on contract basis and they will try to remain it as an antic of their father. What the shopping complex will benefit to the poor people of Kisangani one cannot say, but it is obvious that shifting the business from Education to Trading is certainly a precautionary wise step. After 44 years or less the coming generation will forget the history of Insan School, but the time will report that the Muslims of Bihar lost a second Sir Syed Ahmed Khan for his insincerity of intentions. 170

171

Index: Names Aafaq Akhtar 55,162, E.G.Kalat 116, Ali Imam 29.34,35,67, Firoz Bhai 88,89, Allama Iqbal 8, 9, Fateh Alam Rizvi 108, Arman Wajid 108, Farhat Qadri 24, Abul Hasan 58, 61, 80, 131, FazlurRahmanPdampur 161, Abdur Razzaqe 147,150, Ghufran Ahmed 133, Ahad Bhai 27,34,40,56,83, Ghaffar Madholi 116, Abdussamad 55, Gesu Syed Hafeez 62, Asim Azfer 55, Gholam Shahid 130,106, 133, Azfer Sulaiman 63, 64, Gulab Chandra Sharma 36, Atia Bano, 55, 62 Haji Abdul Aziz 161, Anwer Malick 145, Hasan Imam 66, Abdulwahid Mukhlis 84, Haji Arif Burimari 79, Abdul Ghani Sahib 76, Firoz Alam 130, Asraruul Haque Quasmi 5, Hafeezuddin 116, Aakhlaqur Rahman Qidwai 6,75,84,105, Haque Azmi 24, Anil Bordia 7,81, Iqbal Sami 41,55, Ali Imam 29.34,35,67, Jawaid Iqbal 28, Allama Ibne Seereen 127, Jehangir Malick 8, 31,65, 84, Abdul Ahad 27,34,40,56,83, 137, 138, 139,140, 141,145, Aslam Jairajpuri 116, Jawadul Haque 55, Akhtar Hussain 116, Jamil Bhai 93, Abid Husain 116, Kaleemuddin Shams 37 A.K.Faizi 27, 28, Kanak Lal Saha 49, Buland Akhtar Hashmi 54,55, 56,133,136,139, Khursheed Naiyyar 27, Dr.Abdus Salam 161, KhawjaGholamShahid 130, Dr.Abdul Kareem Naik 10, KhajaAbdulHaiFarooqi 116, Dr.Ameer Ahmed 161, KarpooriThakur 6,7,8,82,143, Dr.Mohan Lal Jain 55, Kalam Haidri 32, Dr.Mohammad Sajjad 151, 155, Maullna Zulfiqar Sahab 17, Dr.Qamrul Hoda 29,55,57,66,67,78,79, Mohammad Raza 3, Dr.Rizwanul Haque Nadvi 140, 145, Mozahirul Hasan 27, 37,36, Dr.Shamsul Bari 20, 40,56, 83, 134, 145, 149, Dr.Shayam Lal Saha 55, Mehta Bhai 34,83, Dr.Zakir Naik 10, Mohammad Jamil 42, 172

Mohammad Mujeeb 161, Perwaiz Akhtar 55, Mohammad Aslam 43,44, Principal Haneef 160, Malika Rehana 53,54, 56, Rizwanul Haque Nadvi 140 61, 81, 82, 84, 111, Rafeeq Anjum 46, Malika Ferhana 53,56,57,61, Raghwans Prasad 65,83 Mohammad Mojeeb, 15,116 Ruhi Enam 53,55,57, Mohammad Haneef 160, Ruman 101, Mohammad Naeem 89, Rabia Bano 27, Mumtaz Alam 53, Rajiv Gandhi 5, Mohammad Saleem 53, Raees Azam 27, Mohammad Ameen 56, Saba Syed Hafeez 154,156, Mohammad Saleem 108, Shaikh Sahab 30, Mohammad Shamsi 71, Sirajuddin 55, Mohd Hussain Azad 28,71, Sulaiman Saith 86, Mohammad Ahmed 130, Salimgir Ahmed 98, Mohd Shees 17,86,87,88, Saeeduddin Ansari 116, Mohamad Yusuf 160 SyedShahabuddin,MP,5,6,74, Masood Ahmed Fatmi 21,89, 157,164, Mojeebur Rahman 25, ShahabuddinSaharwardi Manzoor Sahab 160, 26,29,35,53,65,70,73,135, Mujtaba Hussain Zaidi 116, Syed Shahid Ahmed Sami 61, 80, Mirza Ruswa 62, Syed Manzoor Alam Gaya 78, Muzaffar Sahib Hamdard 161, Stephen Hawkins 16, M.J.Akber 6, Syed Mojeebur Rehman 25, Milky 105, Syed Nehal akhtar 150, Nigar Baji 34, 47, 133, Syed Sultan Ahmed 24, Nayeem Bhai 8,84,85,134,140,145 , Sarwer Usmani 24,28, Nikhat Nasreen 47,55, Sohail Bhai 42, Nadeem Zafar Jeelani 155, Shifa Syed Hafeez 47, Nawab Zainuddin Mirza 4, Santosh 10, Naeem Watch 89, Taj Anwer 24, Nitish Kumar 159, Taqi Bhai 114, Naushad Adil 108, Waheeduddin Khan 75, 76, Ozair Ehtasham Siddiqi 25, WajahatHussainAlam 133,134,135,139, Prof.IzharAlam 57, Yusuf Srfarazi 161, Prof.Mohammad Mujeeb 5,116 Yusuf Sahab MP 161, 173

Qazi Muslehuddin 32, Zaidi Aziz 46. Index :Places Aurabgabad 21,89, Azamgarh 92, Barari 145, Bela Waris 21,89, Bahadurganj 30,31,34,65, Bholmara 32, Bhagalpur 34, Biharsharif 3, Begusarai 15,133, Bihar 9,31, Chatra 17, Chakla 111, Calcutta 68,69, Gaya 17,18,24, 78, Goh 21,89, Ghaspatti 101, Hazaribagh 17, Haldikora 27, Jehanabad 115, Jubail 98, Katihar 60, Karimganj 24, Nawadah 20,24,26, Nawkatta 31, Nizamuddin 75, Purnia 60, Paithana 115, Ranchi 9,20, Ramdeo 20, Rajauli 20, Rajhat 24,25, 174

Yasmeen Begum 62,

Sahibganj 55, Singhiya 65,101,102, Sontha 27, Thakurganj 60,