Omar Abdullah Lauds Jamia Zia-ul-Uloom’s 50-Year Legacy, Counters Criticism of Religious Schools | Kashmir Life

POONCH: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday used the Golden Jubilee celebration of Jamia Zia-ul-Uloom to defend the role of religious educational institutions in Jammu and Kashmir and to challenge what he said were unfounded allegations routinely levelled against them.

Participating in the institution’s 50-year celebration, Abdullah said the milestone itself was testimony to the Jamia’s endurance. Many institutions, he said, had collapsed quickly or had been created for financial exploitation, while Jamia Zia-ul-Uloom had survived difficult decades and continued to expand its influence in the Pir Panjal region.

He credited the vision of founder Maulana Ghulam Qadir, who established the institution in a non-urban, difficult landscape and kept it growing during the most trying periods. The Chief Minister pointed to a poster displaying alumni who had qualified for prestigious examinations such as the IAS, KAS and KPS, saying that the success of these students showed how far the institution’s reach had spread. “They are working across the country,” he said.

Abdullah spoke after witnessing a series of student presentations, including patriotic songs and a recitation of the National Anthem. He said those performances alone demolished the narrative circulated on social media and in sections of the press that such institutions promote hatred or sectarianism.

“I wish those people who use social media and the press to spread poison against religious and educational institutions could sit here and watch this programme,” he said. He added that while religion was taught, the Jamia imparted a full curriculum. In a lighthearted aside, he said the students had explained mathematical concepts that he had struggled with in school. “What my teacher could not do at that time, today the children of Jamia Zia-ul-Uloom have taught me the theories of mathematics,” he said.

Abdullah argued that the students’ patriotic songs, the National Anthem, the waving of the national flag, and the voluntary observance of Constitution Day were clear evidence of their loyalty to the country. He stressed that the event had not been organised by the government, yet the students had taken the Constitution Day pledge of their own accord. Those who continued to spread misinformation, he said, “should spend a day here to realise that their propaganda is false and amounts to disloyalty to the country.”

Speaking on the significance of Constitution Day, Abdullah said the values enshrined in the preamble guaranteed equal religious status to every resident, as well as democracy and legal protection. He warned against emerging trends in the country that, in his words, “give education the role of religion,” including proposals to restrict medical education for Muslims or other non-Hindus. If merit was replaced by discrimination, he asked, “where will the law of the country go?”

He said critics who claimed to teach constitutional values should observe the administration of Jamia Zia-ul-Uloom. He praised Maulana Ghulam Qadir for maintaining brotherhood and communal harmony, and for the Jamia’s record of helping people during natural disasters and assisting the government in maintaining peace.

Abdullah said he had set aside other responsibilities to attend the celebration, recalling that his association with the institution stretched back to the early 2000s, and before that to his father and grandfather. He described his personal rapport with Maulana Ghulam Qadir, whom he had met regularly over the years.

The Chief Minister ended on a humorous note, saying he hoped to attend Jamia’s next major milestones, though the next 50-year celebration would fall when he would be 105. “At least after the next 25 years, I will witness this function. I hope this institution will make more progress,” he said.

He concluded by wishing the Jamia continued success. “With the hope that the 50 years that have passed, the next 50 years will be even more successful for you. I am very happy to be here. I want to thank you all for this opportunity,” he said.