Convent School’s controversial form angers people

Srinagar: A prominent Christian missionary school of Kashmir is in the eye of a storm after it omitted Islam as one of the religions in the application form for admission to lower kindergarten.
Presentation Convent Higher Secondary School, Rajbagh, Srinagar, recently issued admission forms for LKG (session 2012-2013) where in serial No. 9 the applicant is asked to tick one out of the four religions—“Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist.”
On Tuesday, several people visited Kashmir Reader office expressing serious concern over the controversial form. They said it was strange on the part of school authorities to omit Islam in the form given that the school has been operating in Kashmir, a Muslim majority region, for nearly a century.
Some smelled conspiracy in the issue, a charge denied by the school authorities.
“It is part of a larger design by the Christian Missionaries in Kashmir. Such things are deliberately done to hurt the religious sentiments of Kashmiri Muslims,” Nayeem Qadri, a lawyer, said.
“I was shocked on seeing the form. How they can do this?” Firdous Ahmed Khan, a Srinagar resident, said. “I even went to Director School Education to raise the issue, but unfortunately he was not in the office. This issue needs to be addressed.”
The school authorities term the omission of Islam in the form as “a typographical error.”  One of the board members of the school, who wished anonymity, said, “We came across it after some parents called us and we immediately held a meeting. It’s a typographical error committed by the printer.”
What is astounding, however, is the school’s reluctance to cancel the forms and issue new ones. “We won’t issue new forms. We have shown our regrets through media. Parents are requested to incorporate Islam in the form,” principal of the school Sister Joyti told Kashmir Reader.
Presentation Convent School was launched in Kashmir in 1936 by the Presentation Sisters, a worldwide network of Catholic Religious Organization, who had then arrived in Kashmir from Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Meanwhile Various pro-freedom groups, religious organizations and the ruling National Conference have reacted sharply to the recently published admission form by a Christian missionary school wherein it had omitted Islam as one of the religions in the options column.
Presentation Convent Higher Secondary School, Srinagar, recently issued admission forms for LKG (session 2012-2013) where in under serial No. 9, the applicants have been asked to choose one out of the four religions—“Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist.”
“If this is a deliberate attempt, it shows the sick mentality of the school administration. This is the worst thing to happen in the history of Kashmir. This is unexpected error and we strongly condemn it,” Hurriyat (G) spokesperson, Ayaz Akbar told Kashmir Reader.
Chairman, Jamiat-e-Ahlihadees, Maulana Malik Ghulam Rasool, while condemning the omission, said, “May be they want to convey to the people of Kashmir that the school is not for Muslims.”
“We condemn it. The authorities should have recalled the whole lot of forms and publish new forms if they are sincere in saying that the omission was the result of typographical mistake.”
He said that this would help them to maintain their credibility. “But they are adamant on using of the old forms that speaks that they are not sincere in rectifying their mistake,” he added.
The Jama’at-e-Islami (JeI) while demanding the cancellation of the forms has described the act as “provocative conspiracy”.
“How is it possible that they have omitted only Islam and not any other religion?” Advocate Zahid Ali, JeI spokesperson told Kashmir Reader.
He said that the school wanted to enumerate the Muslims of the state as atheists. “The form not mentioning Islam as a religion means that Muslim students would leave the option unmarked and tomorrow they can be presented as atheists,” he said.
“All the forms should be cancelled and the school administration should publish new forms,” Zahid demanded.
“This is serious issue and parents should also understand where their kids are studying,” said Maulana Peerzada Akhzar Hussain, President of AHNAF Jammu and Kashmir.
He demanded that the school authorities should apologise for the act. The school authorities should issue new forms,” he said.
The JKLF Chief Mohammad Yasin Malik said that Kashmir was a Muslim majority place and “the school authorities should rectify the omission forthwith.”
However, the Hurriyat (M) chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, described the act as “not a serious issue.”
“If this error has happened, the school authorities should rectify it,” the chief cleric.
The ruling National Conference has called for finding a suitable solution to the issue.
The party spokesperson, Tanvir Sadiq said that even though they have not got any sort of information yet, the party would ensure a stern action if such thing has happened.
“We will go through the issue and find what the reason behind it is,” said Tanvir. “We will ensure that the education department raises the issue with the school authorities.”