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Mumbai:
Muslims would have been termed terrorists or ISI agents and sent
to jail if they had protested to take possession of Ismail Yusuf
College the way Dalits did to get the Indu Mill land for Ambedkar
Memorial, noted scholar Shamim Tarique wrote in one of his weekly
columns published in an Urdu daily. He observed that by forcefully
breaking in the Indu Mill compound, Dalits succeeded within 24
days in taking possession of the land which actually belonged to
the government. “On the other hand”, he wrote, “Ismail Yusuf
College and the adjoining lands belong to Muslims. Yet, the
government is not ready to handover them to the rightful owners.”
Published barely a fortnight before the Mumbai Civic Elections,
the article has revived the effort underway by various Muslim
groups since more than a decade to seek from the Govt. of
Maharashtra possession of the prime land, located in Mumbai
suburbs. The effort which was at its peak post the 2009
assembly elections when Federation of Minorities NGOs while honoring Muslim legislators from all political parties of
Maharashtra at a function held at Hajj House submitted a list
of proposals and issues to be addressed in the next five years.
Convenor of the NGO Salim Alware says, taking possession of Ismail
Yusuf College and the adjoining land was second in that list.
The idea of the college was mooted by Sir Mohammad Ismail Yusuf
who in January 1910 donated a whopping Rs. 0.8mn to then State of
Bombay with a condition to establish a college which should be
primarily for Muslims though, he said, students belonging to other
religious communities could also be given admissions. The idea
began taking shape by March 1924 and the college, one among the
four affiliated to University of Mumbai by then, finally started
functioning in1930. Situated on a hillock in Jogeshwari (E) in the
midst of sylvan surroundings and spread over 54 acres of land, the
college even today is considered as one of the premier
institutions of higher education with state-of-the-art
infrastructural facilities in terms of spacious classrooms, well
equipped laboratories, a library with rare collection of books,
gymkhana and vast playground, and a beautiful mosque.
Besides the extraordinary infrastructure that attracted people
from in and around State of Bombay to send their children to the
college, according to Shamim Tarique, it was also the efforts of
Dr. Bazlur Rehman – the first principal who took the college to
such a top ranking position that students were proud of their
association with it. In between the college went through many ups
and downs. The fact that the college had only arts faculty to
offer was also a major limitation. Then there was the government
which said it could not afford to run the college any more. A
closure was clearly imminent. However due to the efforts this time
of then Anjuman-e-Islam chief Barrister Akbar Peerbhoy the college
was back on track. Known for his articulate understanding,
Peerphoy also made it sure that along with arts faculty the
college should also offer science and commerce subjects to its
students.
Nonetheless, till 1975 the college was the favourite institution
for Muslim students especially those from places like Mumbai,
Bhiwandi and Malegaon, and also from countries like Afghanistan
and Sudan. However situation began slipping out of control later
on. First, due to the government’s negligence, encroachers and
slum dwellers illegally took whatever size of the land they could
in their possession. Later on, a considerable size bisecting the
land under the college control was used for the construction of
Western Express Highway. If it was not enough, part of the
remaining land was granted by none other than the government
itself to a private society to establish what is known today as Arvind Gandbhir High School and also for constructing a housing
society. By the time the Muslims realised the losses the community
had incurred, the Ismail Yusuf campus which was originally spread
over 120 acres of land, shrunk to about 54 acres.
A stunned community knocked the government’s doors to get the land
clear of encroachments and to bring the campus under the control
of a Muslim trust. When repeated requests to the government proved
fruitless, lawsuits were also filed in court. Meanwhile,
differences on who should get control of the campus surfaced
between Anjuman-e-Islam, a Pune based Muslim Trust and the one led
by some ex-students of the college. Due to the infighting between
the three groups neither the lawsuit pending in the court saw a
final verdict nor did the government care to take any decision to
resolve the issue.
However, it has now been transpired that unanimity has emerged
between the three groups. The Pune based trust has backtracked
from its claim and the group led by the ex-students of the college
also doesn’t have any objection if the control of the campus is
handed over to Anjuman-e-Islam. The Anjuman along with Sir
Mohammed Yusuf Family Trust is already involved following a court
settlement in the
affairs of the college, though limited only to the admission
process. One of the largest Muslim NGOs, the Anjuman also has to its credit a successful record of running the
chain of reputed institutions under its control. Community elites
believe, if Ismail Yusuf College and the adjoining land are handed
over to the Anjuman, institutions of higher education can come up
in the campus which could then be used in more effective way for
the betterment of the people in general and Muslims in particular.
It is now left to the government how it takes an early settlement
of an issue waiting for a solution since over two decades.
(With inputs from
WikiPedia)
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