Asian Research Consortium

Asian Research Consortium Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities Vol. 5, No. 1, January 2015, pp. 106-119. ISSN 2249-7315 Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities www.aijsh.org Educational Backwardness of Muslims in Princely Kashmir: An Inferential Analysis of the Legacy of Dogra Raj Fayaz Ahmad Kotay* *Research Scholar, Department of History, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (Central) University, Lucknow UP India. DOI NUMBER-10.5958/2249-7315.2015.00008.8 Abstract The paper attempts to show the relationship between the Dogra State, Muslims, and educational development in Kashmir. It examines the State s responsibility of educating the Kashmiri Muslims. The paper exposed and enquires into the stereotype of Muslim apathy to modern education due to their religious conservatism. It shows that relative deprivation of Muslims in different opportunities led to their poverty, consequently to their illiteracy. The paper finds that Muslims did not see education as necessarily translating into formal employment. The low representation of Muslims in employment and perception of discrimination in securing salaried jobs make them attach less importance to formal secular education in comparison to other communities. The first part of the paper studies the state s role in the development of education in Kashmir. Second part examines the attitude of Muslims to modern education. It examines the indifferent role of state vis-à-vis education of Muslims. Part third look into the government biased recruitment policy in state services. It also includes the unwilling of State and leadership to accept Kashmiri as the medium of instruction. The paper concludes with the dismal educational condition of Jammu and Kashmir in general and Muslims in particular, which can be said is the legacy it inherited from the Dogra state. Keywords: Discrimination, Dogra State, Employment, Kashmir, Muslim Education. Introduction Kashmir occupies an important strategic position on the map of the Indian subcontinent. It became the princely state 1 of Jammu and Kashmir, in 1846 (Bamzai 2004, 1) when the English East India Company signed a treaty with Raja Gulab Singh, the first Dogra ruler of Kashmir 106

(Pannikar 1930, 112). Muslims formed the majority of the population with a small, but significant, minority of Kashmiri Hindus, or Pandits (Zutshi 2003, 11). Modern education does not seem to have existed in Kashmir until the advent of the Christian Missionaries when a changed outlook gradually came into being. With the passage of time, the state also followed the suit and founded various schools. However, surprisingly, Muslims remained illiterate and did not take the advantage of the new system of education. What was the attitude of the state vis-à-vis the development of modern education among Muslims? Why Muslims were aloof from to the new system of education? Was it because they were attached to agricultural economy or, was it because of some innate religious conservatism, which discouraged them to pursue secular education? How far the neglect of Kashmiri language was responsible for mass illiteracy in Kashmir? What was the share of Muslims in government employment and how did it affect their overall progress in education? These are the some queries which are addressed in this paper. I Dogra Maharajas and Education in Kashmir Maharaja Gulab Singh spent most of his time in consolidating his territories; he was having neither time nor any interest to give new shape to the existing system of education (Rasool and Minakshi 1986. 173). His successor Maharaja Ranbir Singh patronised Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit learning, the education of the masses remained in an extremely low state (Zutshi 2003, 172). The educational institutions classed as Maktabas and Patshalas 2 often provided only religious instruction of a very limited type and they cannot, therefore, strictly speaking be classed among institutions engaged in promoting general education (Report of Educational Reorganization Committee 1939, 10). On the one hand state did not took steps to spread the new type of education and on the other hand it make no stone unturned to oppose the attempts of Christian Missionaries, the pioneers of modern medical and educational amenities in Kashmir 3 (Khan 2007, 138-39). Mridu Rai (2003) argued that although Maharaja Ranbir Singh donated a handsome amount of Rs, 62,500.00 in 1869 for the establishment of Punjab University, his donations were far in excess of those of the Maharajas, Chiefs and people of the Punjab. The irony of the situation is that it was not until the early twentieth century that the Dogra Maharajas would fund the establishment of institutions for higher education in their own state of Jammu and Kashmir (Rai 2003, 35). Maharaja Pratap Singh succeeded the Ranbir Singh, due to the intervention of British 4 (Rai 2003, 35) some steps were taken to spread education among the Kashmiri s 5 (Seru 1973, 58; Rasool and Minakshi 1986. 113). Since the Dogra state was ill equipped and unwilling to take on this responsibility, its educational policies in this period were fraught with ambivalence towards mass education in general and education of Muslims in particular (Zutshi 2003, 173). Muslims like their brethren in British India remained indifferent to new system of education which was laid by the Christian missionaries and later by the state. According to Walter Lawrence, the settlement officer, Muslims of Kashmir were most backward in education. In the year 1891-92 he gives us the following statistical data about the education in Kashmir (Lawrence 2006, 229). 107

Condition of Education in Kashmir in the year 1891-92 Number of boys on roll 1,585 Average daily attendance 1,228 Number of students learning English 299 Number of students Vernacular only 1,541 Number of students Sanskrit only 44 No. of Students from Different Religions -- Hindus 1,327 Muslims 233 Sikhs 21 Others 4 Source: W. R. Lawrence, The Valley of Kashmir, Ali Mohammad and Sons, Srinagar, 2006. These figures show that though the Hindus form less than 7% of population, they monopolize over 83% of education facilities created by the state, while out of a population of 7, 57,433 Muslims only 233 could obtain any benefit from the state schools. 6 By the early 20 th century, however, the state began to present itself as the promoter of education among its subjects. Translated into actual government policy, this meant the rapid creation and consolidation of a state educational bureaucracy as the school curricula in the state were reorganized along the lines of the Punjab University syllabus (Zutshi 2003, 178). The year 1905 was a landmark in the progress of education in Kashmir. It was in this year that, with the efforts of Dr. Annie Besant, a college, affiliated to Banaras Hindu University, was set up in Srinagar (Rasool and Minakshi 1986, 49; Seru 1973, 170). On July 1911, the college was taken over by the state and came to be known as Sri Pratap College (Bamzai 2007, 359). By 1907, it had become clear that state was lagging behind in developing schemes to impart education to the vast majority of its subjects, as it considered education to be the preserve of the elite. The state s acceptance of the idea that education should be restricted to the upper tier in the society is reflected in the Education Minister s negative response to the Maharaja s directive that he draws a scheme for free and compulsory education in the state. The Education Minister rejected the idea of primary education on the grounds that such a measure would be seen as tyrannical by the majority of the Kashmiri population, which was not aware of the duties of citizenship. The Minister stated that if the wage earning children of uneducated parents were forced to go to schools, the parents would consider it Zoolum (tyranny) (Old English Records 1907). According to the state, then it is not the responsibility of the state to educate the people, instead community leaders should encourage education among the respective communities. The Inspector of Schools suggested that low caste Kashmiri Muslims (Meghs and Dooms) should be taken away from the compulsory primary education because upper caste students did not like to study with the lower caste children (Political Department 1907). In 1913, the state opened Amar Singh Technical institute at Srinagar. Mr. F. H. Andrews, formerly Headmaster of Battersea Polytechnic School, London, was appointed its principal (Khan 2007, 181). The aim of the college was to engage the children of craftsmen, but these hopes soon belied, instead of a large number of the skilled workers, mostly Muslims, it were the Hindus, the dropouts 108

from schools, who enrolled themselves in the institute. For example, in 1916, the total number of students was 157, of these 115 being Hindus and the rest Muslim. Among all, only 26 pupils were the sons of craftsmen, and of these 25 were Muslims. As a result, the institution was neither popular nor did it play any effective role in the development of crafts and cottage industries in the city (Bamzai 2007, 336). The pressures from the Kashmiri Muslim leadership and the deplorable condition of Muslims in education forced the government to look into the matter of backwardness of Muslims of Kashmir in modern education. The Kashmiri Muslims also got support of their brethren from other parts of British India 7 (Ganie 2007, 67). Thus it was under the pressure of public opinion that in 1916 Maharaja Pratap Singh invited Sir Henry Sharp, the Educational commissioner, Government of India, to suggest various ways and means to extend educational facilities for Muslims of Kashmir. The report pointed out that poverty and the agricultural class basis of Kashmiri Muslims was the reason for the lack of literacy among them. The committee felt that the Muslim community in the state was so overwhelmingly poor that they could not send their children to schools. Therefore, liberal grants and scholarships should be kept aside for Muslim students and institutions, at primary, secondary and college levels. Furthermore, the report recommended institutionalisation of technical education in the state, pointing out that the provision of practical education ought to be one of the state s most urgent priorities. Since the majority of the Muslims in the state belonged to the agricultural community, the modern curriculum of the state schools held no value for them (Sharp 1916, 40-42). The Sharp Committee report was only a name sake document, hardly any of its recommendation was implemented, although Maharaja accepted some recommendations of the report, but his hostile ministers ignored them in one way or the other. As a matter of fact, soon after its publication, the report was safely kept in Archives (Glancy 193, 98). In 1925 Maharaja Pratap Singh was succeeded by Hari Singh. Educated at Mayo, Ajmer, Hari Singh was hailed by Kashmiri Muslim Organizations as a highly enlightened ruler under whose wise and sympathetic guidance... the people of this great state are sure to advance in various spheres of human activity (General Department 1925). But these accolades were later followed by a long list of demands by the All Kashmiri Muslim Conference 8 (Zutshi 2003, 207, 229). In 1930 the state government took a bold step with the passing of Primary Education Act. By this Act, free and compulsory primary education in the Municipal and Notified areas of Jammu and Kashmir State, was introduced. In Kashmir province it was introduced in Srinagar and Sopur (Ganaganath 1944, 198). It was the most important event in the annals of educational development of state in general and Kashmir in particular thus fulfilling the long pending demand for such an act from the Muslim leadership of Kashmir (Zutshi 2003, 207). Although the scheme got some success, but the scheme should have gained grand success had it been introduced in rural areas, the urban areas have already got some good literacy rate as compared to the rural one, so the poor masses, who predominantly resides in villages remain outside the ambit of the Act. The Section-II of the Act exempted some classes and communities from the operation of the Act, which means a large number of lower class poor people, did not take 109

advantage of the Act, although they lived within the Municipal areas of the state and due to financial constraints this Act was not vigorously enforced (Rasool and Minakshi 1986, 378). The thirties of the 20 th century saw the beginning of anti-dogra political activity in Kashmir. The incident of 13 July 1931, when 22 Muslims were killed by Dogra police, gave boost to the national upsurge (Zutshi 2003, 231). In order to pacify the people; Maharaja appointed a commission on 12 th of Nov. 1931, consisted of four non-official members, two from Kashmir province and two from Jammu province, under the chairmanship of B. J. Glancy, European Officer of Government of India (Glancy 1931, 1-2). Though the commission was not directly concerned with the issue of Education, it made some important recommendations in that direction as well (Rasool and Minakshi 1986, 155). Recognizing the educational demands of Kashmiri Muslim community, the commission s report devoted an entire chapter to its redressal. According to the report, the state had not fulfilled Sharp`s recommendations regarding the expansion of primary education or to increase the number of Mullas 9 in primary schools. Although official consent was given to some recommendations, all the recommendations were not accepted or implemented in toto (Zutshi 2003, 240-43). In 1938 Maharaja appointed the Educational Reorganization Committee under the chairmanship of Mr. K. G. Saiyidian 10 (Report of Educational Reorganization Committee, 1939, 3). The new scheme of education aimed at the establishment of a system of free, compulsory and universal basic education to all the children in state not below the age of seven. The State accepted some recommendations of the report but the government was not able to implement certain recommendations of the Committee like the extension of the compulsory education in other areas of Kashmir. The Sharp`s recommendations of establishment of a primary school in every village with 500 hundred inhabitants was not implemented at all. Educational development took a major leap during Hari Singh`s reign, as compared to his predecessors. There is, however, no denying the fact that despite all this progress, only the fringes of the actual educational needs of the people had been touched. The quality of teaching was left wanting. Despite all the arrangements for the training of teachers, a large percentage of them were still without any training for their profession. The higher education remained confined to only a small section of people. For obvious economic reasons, many a parent could not afford to send their children to the Aligarh or Punjab universities for higher studies (Khan 2007, 181). It should be also remembered that the education of girls remained in backward condition, and here once again the lead was taken by the Christian Missionaries, 11 sometime between 1893 1895 a girls school was established in Srinagar, (Biscoe 2006, 29) it was only in 1912 that the government opened a primary school in Srinagar exclusively for Hindu girls. Latter a girl s school was opened for Muslim girls (Rasool and Minakshi 1986, 88). Higher education of girls remained a dream owing to the non-existence of a women s college in Kashmir. Many parents were not in favour of co-education (Administrative Report of Education Boy Scouts, 1942-43, 24). They did not send their daughters to the Sri Pratab College or Amar Singh College for the fear of public retribution (Administrative Report 1944-45, 112). 110

II Education among Muslims It has been said that Muslims have failed to respond the secular education or take advantage of educational developments, on account of their resistance to secular education the emphasis placed among them upon sending the child to traditional Islamic educational institutions rather than to a modern, secular institution (Ahmad 1981, 1457-1465). The Muslims of Kashmir started looking for modern education very late (Nave 2003,256) as compared to their Hindu brethren, as latter being the favoured subjects of the Dogra rule, which helped them to avail the benefits of new opportunities provided by modernization. The Muslims except a handful of religious class had neither literary or official pedigree nor did they enjoy any state patronage (Ganie 2004, 65). Muslims of Kashmir had been much attached to their land as agriculturists, which led to their backwardness in modern education. In this context following folk saying is often quoted by the historians: Pari Pati, Gali Tarathi;Hal Vaga, Tukra Phage (Education brings ruin; it is by ploughing that bread can be had) (Om 1986, 82) For them education was a distant luxury and waste of time. Kashmiri s were fraught with the high taxation policy of Dogra state by parting a major portion of produce with the state and officials, after paying legal and illegal taxes, the peasant was left with not more than 1/4 of his produce (Ganie 2004, 65, 48). He lived most part of the year on rice gruel, vegetables, wild fruits and other substandard kind of diet. Given these conditions how can a peasant will manage to send his wards to school so education to him was a kind of luxury? So it is in this context above folk saying is often used by scholars. Dogra state placed the entire burden of the backwardness of the Muslim community itself. In rhetoric reminiscent of provincial governments in colonial India, the Home Member stated that the real cause of Muslim backwardness was their apathy and incapacity to take advantage of the facilities of education placed before them by the government. According to him Mulhas were primarily responsible for fostering this attitude among Muslims. He described the Kashmiri Muslim community as community handicapped by its religion, which had much common with its brethren community in British India. He added that any culture that is foreign to the Muslim mode of living or thinking or any education that is not based on the tradition of Quran has been regarded with disfavour by their religious heads (General Department 1923, 3-5). Maharaja Pratap Singh also declared that it was Muslim leadership and clergy which was responsible for their backwardness in education. He stated, I have been all along impressing upon my Mohammedan subjects the supreme necessity of education and if they are lagging behind, they are themselves to blame. He then appealed to the Mohammedan gentleman to impress upon the community the need for education (General Department 1923). Clearly, the state did not recognise the need to provide incentives for education to its subjects was its responsibility. The Muslim clergy also in turn, discouraged their community from receiving modern education. They impressed upon their community that western system of education would turn them into 111

apostates (Bazaz 1941, 251). But this was not the only agency to be blamed for the backwardness of Kashmiri Muslims terms in modern education. Until the beginning of 20 th century one does not find even a single Muslim boy in the Christian missionary schools, which were the main institutions where modern education was imparted (Biscoe 2006, 256). The state gave more importance to Jammu province, as far as expansion of primary education is concerned, than to Kashmir province, where a large proportion of Muslims are found (Chohan 1998, 83). P. N. Bazaz attributed it to the political reasons. To quote him. The awareness that they (Dogras) were Hindus and the overwhelming majority of the Kashmiris professed Islam constantly made them apprehensive. They disliked the idea of making their subjects politically conscious and thought that imparting of education was only an effective way of awakening the people to their political and human rights (Bazaz 1957, 215). The establishment of British Residency in Kashmir in 1885 was a boon for Kashmiris, in general, and the Muslims in particular. It was after 1885 that the government showed some interest towards educating masses when some primary and middle schools were opened in different parts of the valley. However, even in 1891 there were only eighteen schools in Kashmir out of which, seventeen were primary schools, and one was middle school (Annual Administrative Report 1891-92). Even by 1911, educationally, the most depressed class was that of Muslims. The percentage of literates among them did not come up to even a whole number, it was only.08% (Census of India, 1911, 62) As already discussed, most of the recommendations of the Sharp Commission were not implemented at all. For example, it had recommended that the villages with a population of 500 should be provided with a primary school, (Sharp 1916, 31-33) but the government turned a deaf ear to it (Khan 2007, 174). The mala fide designs of the government can be inferred from the fact that it kept the recommendations of the Sharp Commission as a top secret that the Muslims will ever know about it (Bazaz 1954, 251). After a gap of fifteen years the Glancy Commission recommended that some sixteen years ago the Education Commissioner of Government of India visited Jammu Kashmir in response to request made by the Kashmir Darbar so that he would make necessary recommendations for reforming educational system. It is a common complaint that the recommendations of Mr. Sharp were not properly published and were to a large extent forgotten. (Glancy 1931, 98) In 1922 the president of the Anjuman-Nusrat-ul-Islam, 12 Mirwaiz Ahmadullah, presented a representation to the state Council for consideration (Ganie 2004, 85). In this representation he clearly accepted the flaws of the Muslim community--such as their apathetic attitude towards the English education--as the reason for their illiteracy. However, just as clearly, he pointed to the duty of the government in alleviating this apathy by promising educated Muslims employment in government service (Zutshi 2003, 200). Not satisfied with government attitude the prominent Kashmiri Muslims submitted a memorandum to Lord Reading, when he visited Kashmir in 1924 in which they requested that A Muslim or a European expert on education be appointed to look after Muslim education. Muslims be recruited both as teachers and inspectors and great number and sufficient number of scholarship be made available to them for higher education in India and aboard. 13 The growing consciousness among the Muslims, that the state had been adopting a non- 112

chalant attitude towards promoting education among them, is evident from the fact that it was the educational grievances which formed the main component of the complaint of the Kashmiri Muslims submitted to the Glancy Commission. The Glancy Commission, while enquiring about the Muslims in Sri Pratab College Srinagar was told that The Hindu teachers discourage the Muslim from taking Science Subjects. Though on paper the government had earmarked some amount of money for the grant of scholarship for Muslim community, this too was not actually spent. Even officials figures show some variation between sanctioned and expended amount (Glancy 1931, 100-103). Allocation and Expenditure of Muslim scholarship from the year 1927-1931 Year Budget Rs. Amount actually spent Rs 1927-28 2,100.00 1,103.00 1928-29 4,200.00 4,072.00 1929-30 7,200.00 6,448.00 1930-31 19,400.00 16,321.00 Source: Glancy Commission Report, 1931, Ranbir Government Press, Jammu, 1933. In higher education Muslims were proportionately low in number due to the step motherly attitude of state. In the matter of scholarships Muslims were less preferred, which is why Mr. Sharp recommended Special Mohammadan Scholarships to be given to Muslim students, who were interested in higher studies. But the Dogra state turned its deaf ear in giving philanthropic attention to this neglected community. Scholarships for higher education were mostly given to non-muslims. To go abroad for higher studies the government had fixed the age limit of the aspirant at twentyfour years, which was a deliberate policy to eliminate the Muslim students from the race of higher studies, as they usually started their education very late (Abdullah 1986, 1947-48). III Employment and Education Educational opportunities were provided by state, but these were likely to be exploited by those social strata that are oriented to employment in the professions and government services, but if we go through the statistical data furnished by varieties of contemporary sources the representation of Muslims in government service is very less. During the initial phase of the Dogra rule, the maharaja handed over all the key positions to non-local Hindus (Younghusband 1911, 186) and appointed local Pandits on clerical positions (Bazaz 1941, 83). To one s utter dismay, in 1872 one does not find even a single Muslim out of population of 3,27,700 Muslims occupying even a lowest position in State services, whereas out of population of Kashmiri Pandits 5572 were working as clerks (Lawrence 2006, 400-01). The following tables would clearly bring out the policy of discrimination adopted by the Dogra Maharajas against the overwhelmingly dominant Muslim population in the State services. 113

Creed wise Representation of Gazetted Positions in Various State Departments S. No. Department Hindus Muslims 1 State Department 3-2 Personal Department 7 2 3 Military Secretary s Department 18-4 Foreign and Political Secretariat 2 1 5 Police Department 35 5 6 Public Works Department 18-7 Irrigation Department 10-8 Medical and Jails 26 4 9 Forest 35 5 10 Judicial Department 37 8 Source: Riots Enquiry Report, Srinagar 1931 Creed wise Representation of Gazetted and non-gazetted positions in various State Departments S. No. Department Hindus Muslims 1 Department of Revenue 113 31 2 Department of Customs 150 19 3 Department of Justice 33 3 4 Department of Health 175 32 5 Department of Police 800 626 6 Department of Education 51 6 Source: Glancy Commission Report, 1931, Ranbir Government Press, Jammu, 1933. Thus it is amply born out that the Muslim representation in different branches of administration was nominal even in 1931-32. Between 1910 and 1930 the Muslim representation in State services did not exceed 15% both in gazetted and non-gazetted ranks (Ganie 2004, 26). The government justified the poor representation of the Muslims in State services on account of their backwardness in education. But the Kashmiri Muslims complained that to keep them away from the State services was part of the policy of governance. Instead of encouraging the Muslim youth, the government adopted a policy of discouraging them. It not only denied suitable positions to the highly educated Muslims, but also adopted very strict rules to forestall their entry into the administration once they started returning from different Indian universities with high academic qualifications. A glaring example of the state s discouragement to Muslim educated youth is the treatment meted out to Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who in spite of being M. Sc. Chemistry was appointed merely as a school teacher, (Abdullah 1986, 19, 65, 147-48) while as only a decade earlier (1920) an illiterate person namely Makhan Singh holding the post of Wazir-i-Wazarat (Deputy Commissioner) of Mirpur (Ganie 2004, 28). Education as an activity requires a definite investment of time, energy and resources. Even if education supposed to be free, people may still be unwilling to take to it because the expenditure of energy and time that its pursuit may require may still mean a loss of resources which one create if 114

one were to go in for some other activity during the same time. Therefore, the question whether they are ultimately ready or willing to make the necessary investment of time, energy and resources in education is likely to depend upon whether they see this investment as commensurate with what education can give or gives them in return. So discrimination of Muslim in State services also contributed to the backwardness of Muslims in education. IV Issue of Medium of Instruction The advantage of providing education (especially primary education) in the mother tongue is undisputed as it enables the child to understand and apply skills more easily. Countless children perish just because the schools designed for the dominant majority fail to attract minority children. It makes them feel useless. They are clueless as all the fuss about going to a place where they do not understand the language. The school, the teachers, the texts and contexts speak a different language and belong to a different culture. It is an alien place uninteresting, monotonous and incomprehensible. It makes many children turn their backs to schooling and it pushes out children who, sadly, are branded as drop outs. Neglect of mother tongues of the dominated and minority language speakers in schools contributes to their capability deprivation and voicelessness (Skutnabb Kangas 2007, XIX). Since the colonial state was the Dogra state s main inspiration, the ambiguities and inconsistencies in British Education and language policies could also be noted in Kashmir. These are most comparable with the Punjab, where the script and the language of administration were far removed from regional language (Jalal 2000, 103-10). A similar situation prevailed in Kashmir, a fact never raised or addressed by the state or the Muslim leadership. Instead, the state focussed on the issue of languages most suited for religious instruction. The Dogra state had made Urdu synonymous with Muslim education and Hindi with the education of Hindus, developing parallel system of vernacular education, such as in North Western Provinces, ignoring the glaring fact that neither Kashmiri Hindus nor Kashmiri Muslims spoke anything other than their regional vernacular, Kashmiri, in either their homes or places of business (Zutshi 2003, 194). There was complete silence of Muslim leadership on the subject of Kashmiri as the language of instruction in schools. This silence is an interesting comment on the class basis of the educational reform movements in Kashmir. Since the education in the Kashmiri language would have benefited the lower classes the most, but not appreciably served the interests of the elite (since their main motivation in acquiring an education was to be conversant in the language of the administration, Urdu), the Muslim leadership was unwilling to raise the banner of Kashmiri as the medium of instruction. In the same way Hindus demanded Hindi as the medium of instruction. The leaders of both communities (Hindus and Muslim) tried to mobilize support for their respective languages; ignoring the basic fact that language had connection with locality, not with the different religious communities resident there. Kashmiri thus became a victim of interests of Kashmiri leadership (Zutshi 2003, 195). Complete unwillingness on the part of state and leadership, to implement the mother tongue as medium of instruction was in large part responsible for high illiteracy rate among Kashmiri Muslims. 115

Conclusion The Dogra state was ambivalent to spread education among Muslims, the majority community of the Valley. While modern education increasingly spread among the Kashmiri Pandits, this meant that they dominated the liberal professions and higher posts in the government, thus concessions and privileges and higher posts in the government. Consequently Muslims were sent in background, although some Muslims managed to get higher qualifications but they were denied the suitable positions in state services. With the beginning of the 20 th century, education was spreading among Muslims, but it was limited to the upper strata of the society. Lower classes (Doms and Meghs) were not allowed to sit with the upper classes of the Muslim society. Different educational commissions and conferences were held from time to time by the state, but the recommendations made were hardly materialized by the state owing to its unwillingness. The state repeatedly moves away from its responsibility and blame Muslims leadership for its backwardness in education. By promoting languages most suited for religious instruction at the expense of Kashmiri, the state created a gap between education and the public space. The legacy of princely Kashmir is still prevailing, the Kashmiri people s struggle for economic and social rights continued in post-colonial period. Kashmiri Muslims, though in majority, still are most educationally backward community in Jammu and Kashmir State. According to census 2001 their literacy rate is 47.34, which is much lower than national and state average. Moreover, Census 2011 put Jammu and Kashmir State 30 th in the all India literacy ranking of all the states and union territories of Indian Union. There is a huge gap between rural urban literacy. According to Census 2001 urban literacy rate of Jammu and Kashmir among Muslims was 63%, while as the rural literacy was only 43%. Women education is also in backward condition. In urban areas there is difference of 20% among males and females literacy rates. Similarly in rural areas it is 24%. The quality is missing in every aspect of education in Kashmir. The performance of different centrally sponsored schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Government of India s flagship programme to achieve UEE universalization of elementary education, in a time bound manner by 2012, shows flawed and sluggish implementation of programme. The fate of RAMSA, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, Government of India`s another flagship programme to achieve USE universalization of secondary education, and KGBV, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidalaya to enhance the rate of girl education in the state, is not up to the mark. Notes 1. The state covers an area of 2,22,713 sq. km. extending from 30 0, 17 to 36 0, 58 N and from 73 0,26 to 80 O,30 N. In shorter term, Kashmir also includes, besides the valley, the areas of Jammu, Ladakh, Baltistan, Gilgit, Hunza, and Nagar. However after the partition the borders of the state had under gone considerable modifications. Presently total area of Jammu and Kashmir is 138,992 sq ms, remaining part has been possessed by Pakistan and China. 2. Maktab is a Quranic school usually attached to mosque; Pathshala is school run by Pandits. 116

3. Such parents, who sent their children to the missionary schools, received domiciliary visits from the police. They were threatened that if their children attended school, they would be banished to Gilgit, a place where the state sent people for Begar (forced labour). 4. Leveling a few allegations on the Maharaja Pratap Singh, the British Government of India checked his powers in 1889. A State Council, whose members were appointed by the government of India, was formed to take charge of administration. The Council was given full powers to exercise under the guidance of a Resident. 5. A number of reforms were introduced in educational sector by the State Council like a systematic School Inspection Agency, headed by a regular Inspector of Schools, was established in 1889. On scientific lines time table was prepared. 6. Lawrence held people responsible for their backwardness in education, because the Kashmiris were more attracted to schools run by mosques and temples than to state schools. To him, the state was also old-fashioned. Recognizing the dearth of funds, he suggested that state introduced Technical Education in Srinagar, as Kashmiris were famous for their artistic skills. 7. All India Muslim Educational Conference sent a deputation headed by Sahibzada Aftab Ahmad Khan to Kashmir in 1913. The deputation presented a memorandum to the Maharaja requesting him to take care of the educational aspirations of the Muslim community. 8. Muslim Conference was founded in Oct. 1932 by some Muslim leaders; its first president was Shaikh Mohammad Abdullah. 9. Title given to a Muslim religious teacher. 10. K G Saiyidian, one of the members of the Wardha scheme (1937) was appointed as the Director of Education in Kashmir. 11. Miss Fitze started a girl s school in 1912 in Fatehkadal, in 1918 the school was raised to middle standard. Truly, Miss Mallinson, who joined the school in 1922, played an important role in the educational and cultural developmental of Kashmiri women. She introduced swimming, dancing, mountaineering in the school. It is because of her fame that Srinagar s premier girl s school has been named after her name. 12. Moulvi Gh Rasool Shah, popularly known in Kashmir as Sir Sayyid-i-Kashmir (Sir Sayed of Kashmir) founded a socio-religious reform movement Anjuman-i-Nusratul-Islam (Society for Victory of Islam) in 1905. The main objective of the Anjuman was to facilitate education of the Muslims of Kashmir, who were reluctant to receive modern education vis-à-vis religious education. 13. Memorandum submitted to Lord Reading by the prominent Muslims of Muslims of the Srinagar in 1924, Jammu state Archives. 117

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