Marad school saves peace, and itself

KOZHIKODE: The might of letters in sowing seeds of the fraternity has won back the lost threads of love between the Hindus and Muslims of Marad, resulting in the survival of a school that was on the verge of closure. The Jinarajdas LP School, Naduvattam, Marad, which was in trouble after the Marad massacre, is now the fountain of harmony, where more than 400 students go, spreading the message of amity. It also bagged laurels for academic excellence under Mikavu programme, getting enlisted among the best five in the state, launched by the education department and SSA at the state-level in 2015-2016.

The peaceful fishing hamlet was haunted by two massacres in consecutive years (2003, 2004), killing 14 persons from both communities, creating a deep communal rift. The school which was a centre of communal harmony earlier was bearing the brunt as a significant number of students left the place for rehabilitation camps. One of its teachers, T. Jayarani, remembers there were no students in classrooms as both the communities feared to send their children to the multi-community school.

“The mutual fear and hate were so deep that both kept off social gatherings and lived an isolated life,” she told DC. “It was a tough period,” she said. “But gradually things changed as volunteers, politicians and religious leaders joined hands.” To assist the communities to overcome the scars, the school designed many programmes. It regularly organised camps of mothers to strengthen the intimacy. “We hosted feasts during Onam and Vishu and Iftars and X’mas celebrations together to instil confidence in them,” said E. Dijeshkumar, another teacher. In 2007, CPM leader and industrialist V.K.C. Mammad Koya stepped in ensuring infrastructural assistance through his VKC Charitable Foundation.