Over 100 year old ‘Patriotic’ Muslim school in Ahmedabad dresses tricolor on 70th Independence day

Ahmedabad: 132-year old progressive minority educational institution in Ahmedabad, Anjuman-E-Islam High School, well known for its patriotic gestures including special decoration of its four storied (60 ft high) sprawling building on the occasion of Independence day, today rehearsed the event in a grand way by giving a massive tricolor face to the building using 360 meters long pieces of cloth and around a hundred colourful umbrellas.

The school situated in Khamasa area of the old city near Astodia was among few minority institutions which participated in the second Yoga Day celebrations on June 21 this year despite its coinciding with the month of Ramadan during which many such schools remained away from it saying the students were observing fast (roza) and their participation in yoga day might cause health problems to them.

Principal of the school, Mr Kamaluddin Qureshi today said that the school was actively participating in the special grand decoration of the building on Independence day since 2005. ‘Today we rehearsed the decoration meant for the 70 th independence day. We gave the face of our school a tricolor look using 120 meters each of saffron, white and green coloured cloth for the purpose. We also used around 30 umbrellas of each of the three colours,’ he said.

‘We always do things that inculcate the feeling of patriotism in our students. Currently there are around 900 students in our school (from class 9 to 12). The government has also issued a circular with regard to the organizing of various patriotic and peace promoting events. We had also held a programme on August 9, the anniversary of the bombing on Hiroshima, during which our students spread the anti war and pro- peace message. Our students also participate in chanting patriotic songs and other such events,’ he said.

Ahead of World Yoga Day, students of Anjuman-e-Islam had been practicing Yoga for thirty minutes every day, asserting that it is not associated to any religion and should be practiced by everyone.

DeshGujarat