Kishanganj: Insan School & Dr. Syed Hasan (Part 24)

Contributed By: Dr. Equbal Wajid

Although Dr. Syed Hasan was a highly educated star but as it seemed that he was a big anti academic person. His aim was to become a high notable personality in the field of education without any written or published work. For this target the existing academic structure was not suitable to him. So in order to raise himself high, he worked out to break the educational norms of the society. The tradition of brotherly feelings which he outlined between the teachers and the taught is the biggest example of it. He compelled the students to call the teachers with their names adding a suffix Bhai [Brother] with their names, for example if a teacher’s name is Mozahirul Hasan, he was being called as Mozahir Bhai [ Brother Mozahir]. even the Headmasters, lecturers, and the Principals were being called by the students as Ahad Bhai,[ Brother Ahad] Shahid Bhai [ Brother Shahid] Shakir Bhai [ Brother Shakir] Abul Hasan Bhai [ Brother Abul Hasan].

I ask simply, was it not an anti academic-structural attitude that destroyed the respectful customary between a teacher and the taught? If a College student could call his Principal or Professor by his name like Abul Hasan Bhai [Brother Abul Hasan] or Shakir Bhai [Brother Shakir] how can we imagine that an ideal respectful academic structure could be shaped in such an environment? I, myself had been always respectful to my teachers. Can I imagine if I could have called my college teacher Dr.Fuzail Ahmed as Fuzail Bhai [Brother Fuzial] or the University professor Dr. Wahab Ashrafi as Wahab Bhai [ Brother Wahab] ? If I could have done it have been a serious violation of the academic structure and I may have been expelled from the College or the University.

Here is a confusion to which Dr. Syed Hasan tried to exploit as much he could and took its benefit to form an environment where he could achieve his goal. A feeling of brother-hood for all human being is a different thing and to call the respectful figures like Brother X and brother Y is different. One can feel that all human being are brothers to each other, it is good, but I say it repeatedly that if a student could call his Teachers as Brother X or Brother Y and even to the Principal and Vice Chancellor he addresses in the same way it will certainly go against the academic structure to which we cannot get support either from the society or from the religious institutions. From the School to College and from College to the University we can never get a even a single example for it. If calling teachers as Bhai X and Bhai Y [Brother X and Brother Y] could have a matter of brother hood the giant educational and religious institutions like Aligarh Muslim University and Darul Uloom Deoband, could have acquired it prior to the Insan School.

Let us imagine if somebody calls Mahatma Gandhi as Gandhi Bhai [Brother Gandhi] Jawaharlal Nehru as Nehru Bhai [Brother Nehru] or Maullana Abulkalam Azad as Azad Bhai[ Brother Azad] where lies the respect then? Even you cannot call the Imam of a Mosque [leader of the prayer] like X Bhai or Y Bhai [ X Brother or Y brother]. To show the respect every society has fixed some certain norms to which every member of the society is tied up. We can deceive the society temporarily but we cannot change its norms on our own accord. So this exhibitory ‘brother-culture’ was nothing but to demolish the respect of a teacher in the society. We have, no doubt, that Insan School has worked out in the same way and Dr. Syed Hasan succeeded in doing it to achieve his goal fast. When I was a teacher in the High School my nephew Arman Wajid was a student there. I was his teacher of Urdu. In the class room sometimes he drew my attention addressing me “Equbal Bhai…!” [Brother Equbal…!]. I say nothing to him rather than we both enjoyed at that time and the whole class. At that time It was dispensed in our conscience whatever Syed Bhai [Dr. Syed Hasan] says is correct.

This is the secret that when the College was declared the Director forced the Lecturers to cook food by their own hand and not allowed any cook in the College Campus. Even when the students stopped cooperating, the Lecturers were cooking food for the students. When the Director got the news he allowed a cook for College mess but prevented the Lecturers to eat in the mess, even if the College was on a one and half kilometer walk from Bazaar.

[Bravo ….…Dr. Syed Hasan.]

Here is the other example that will turn us to be more astonished about the man who worked as a founder Director of the Insan School/College and got the Padama Shree Award. As on a day It happened in the broad day light in the College Campus. Mr. Abdul Khalique a Lecturer in Political science, was a young man, qualified from Aligarh Muslim University. He was from the village Padampur of Kishanganj District. One day he came to the College as usual and took his class in the open. The Director moved up the campus habitually. The time was barely 11 o’clock at noon. The golden rays of the sun was brightening the College ground. Green grasses were set forth all around to attract the spectators. The light of the sun showed at a place, laying in the field, the animal waste of a dog. It hurt the Director that why nobody took care of it? Mr. Abdul Khalique was teaching students in the open nearby. Students were sitting on a bench. Abdul Khalique was sitting on an wooden chair.
The Director came and saw the dog-waste laying nearby. He shouted on Abdul Khalique bluntly, as it was his habit. He blamed him that why he didn’t took care and called upon the peon to get cleaned the animal waste? Abdul Khalique answered in such a way that the Director assumed some sort of self-respect in his sentence. It increased his anger more and more. He said : “Is it civics…..?...... You are teaching Civics? ….. Aren’t you? ……But you don’t take care for the environment? …….have you called the peon to clean the waste? ……. could have you lost your prestige…….?”
Perhaps Abdul Khailque said:

“ Syed Bhai ….…what I can do ……….. this is not my responsibility……”

It added fuel to his anger and the Director rapidly raised the dog waste in his hand and put it on his face.

“hhmm…mmm….hhmmm…mmmm….hhmm…mmm…” .He said: “Now look at me…….…this is my prestige ……this is my prestige……look at me…..”

The students and the teachers were frightened. The Director was shouting like a mad. He not even get his face washed as soon, rather than he kept the dog-waste remaining on his face for hours. He said every body :

“I put the dog-waste on my face…… I don’t hesitate to do so…..I can do anything……I have no prestige …….people are living in false prestige…..let them live in false prestige……..” and that’s the end of the episode.

Can anyone justify this behavior of the Director? This is the action of the man who has been awarded the Honorable Padamshree award and was further recommended for Padama Bhushan? Has the model personalities have even done such sorts of dirty work. Was it not an anti academic act? Was it not done to destroy the academic structures and values. Was it not done to kill the moral ethics in education? Was it nothing but to give a message to the Lecturer in Political Science Mr. Abdul Khalique and others that the Director in unbeatable? Was it not a dirty negative egoistic behavior?

We can never expect such kind of behavior with anyone except with a shrewd tricky hypocrite. Further it is a matter of shame that the Director later described this event joyfully to others. What was his motto and dirty intention behind doing this anti academic-structural unclean act. That is why Malika Rehana, lecturer in History, while being a woman and even belonging to his same Malick community always regarded him as one of the most horrific fraud on the earth. She told me many times that Dr. Syed Hasan is an open education-man and a hidden Dracula. Giving pains to the teachers was his favorite food. A very clever man who born to build his family by deceiving the society.

Once with the intention to break his false eminence and to let people know how worth his contribution is, in the eyes of the experts of his field, I send letters to the different Heads of Psychology and Education Departments in different Universities in India. The letter contented the following message:

“To……..I intend to collect views of the experts about the contribution of Dr. Syed Hasan in the field of Psychology and Education……..Signature …..Equbal Wajid”.

Few interesting answers came in response, the one line answer of the Head of the Psychology Department of the Aligarh Muslim University was one of them. He wrote:

“Dear Dr. Equbal Wajid……. I am sorry to say that I don’t know the person in question…….signature and stamp ,Head Department of Psychology, Aligarh Muslim University……”

When this letter came Maullana Naeem Qausmi asked me to paste the letter on the wall. So a Xerox copy of the letter was pasted on the head office wall. When the Director viewed the letter he became half mad. The like minded impotent staff around him were surprised to see the answer. Sooner they got some moral support through the other answer of the Head department of Psychology, Jamia Milliya Islamia, New Delhi. He rather escaped the answer and wrote:

“ Dear Dr. Equbal Wajid………What you are doing against a respectful man is not good. I suggest you to mould yourself and respect the personality who is doing a lot for the cause of education……signature and stamp….Head of the Department of Psychology Jamia Millay Islamia, New Delhi.”

And so on the cold war between with the Director continued and it won to partially damage his image as a philanthropist but failed totally to prevent him from the deception he made with the society as well as with the staff of his institution. [to be continued]