Madrassa students stuck in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Hundreds of students of madrassas are stuck in the city due to Covid-19 lockdown this Ramzan and managements are finding it hard to sustain them. Ramzan is an annual vacation for all Islamic seminaries and students leave for their homes to be with their families for fasting and Id celebrations. Hyderabad hosts hundreds of students from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, AP, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.
The vacation normally begins 15 days before the beginning of the Ramzan month and classes resume only a fortnight or a month after Id-ul-Fitr. But the lockdown has forced the students to stay back, putting further strain on the meagre resources of the Islamic seminaries, which mostly run on annual Zakat and monthly charities. This Ramzan the focus of donors has been on those affected by the Covid-19, including migrant workers and daily wage earners.
According to social service organisations involved in charity distribution, there is acute shortage of food and essentials in these madrassas this Ramzan.
“The Covid-19 lockdown has hit not only daily wagers and migrant workers but also the madrassas in Hyderabad and elsewhere in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. About 2,500 students, including about 1,200 from other states, who normally go to their native place in Ramzan, have not been able to travel. They are held up in the city and the madrassas do not have the budgetary support to meet the expenses during Ramzan,” explained. Helping Hand Foundation (HHF) managing trustee Mujtaba Hasan Askari.
He told TOI that nearly 70% of students in the city madrassas hail from north India. Many of them are orphans. The others hail from economically poor sections. As city madrassas offer coaching in modern education, including computer learning, many poor Muslims, who do not offer school fee, join these seminaries. They get free education, food and accommodation. Some madrassas give free clothes and books too.