JOURNEY OF A VILLAGE BOY FROM POONCH: From a Rehbar- e- Talem Teacher to Vice Chancellor of a University

“ Manziley  Unhi   Ko  Milti  Hai, Jinke Sapno Main Jaan Hoti Hai ; Pankhon  Se Kuch Nahi Hota  bas  Hausloon Main Udaan Hoti Hai”. The famous Urdu quote is once again being proven by Dr. Shazad Malik.

Hard work and Humility made this Young Villager to Achieve the prestigious Post of Vice Chancellor.

Rehbar- e- Talem Teacher to Vice Chancellor: Long Jump from a Small Village !

Raman Sharma 

 ( Khari Kahri News Magazine , Aug/2015 EDITION )

Agra/Poonch: Dr. Shazad Malik a well known name in Agra and Uttar Pradesh , an inspiring figure for the millions of young Indians is a native of district Poonch, he is  Vice Chancellor of Sri Sath Univeristy in Uttar Pradesh, he is among a very few educationists in India holding the  privileged post of the Vice Chancellor at such a young age.

 At the age when most of  young boys and girls in India and especially in Jammu and Kashmir State are queuing in search of a government job, Dr. Malik became the founding Vice Chancellor of Sri Sai Nath  University in 2012 and that too  100s of miles away from his home town and state.

Dr. Malik just after completing his doctorate  from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, in 2006 joined SRI Sai Nath Group of Education and remained director of the SNGE for over a period of 6 years.  

Hailing from a very isolated and  backward village Kasblari in Tehsil Mendhar of district Poonch, Dr Malik achieved the top position in the field of education in one of the largest state in the country only because of  to his hard work, humility and passion for his goal.

 Khari-Kahri Team re-visited some untold inspiring  stories of this successful but humble educationist who never forgets to repay incentive of his success to his native State, yes it is only after the personal initiative of Dr. Shazad Malik that deserving students from Jammu and Kashmir State seeking admission in SSNU are also offered scholarship besides concession in admission and tuition fees. Till date over 150 students hailing from twin district of Rajouri and Poonch have obtained degrees in different streams from his university and even at present over 40 students continuing their courses.

On visit to  the  school where this young man  had studied till primary level astonishingly while comparing the  present position held by him with ragged infrastructure and building of this  Bagyote primary school, it is almost unbelievable to even think that he  had completed his early studies from this institution some 2 decades ago. Sharing some personal detail about with Khari-Khari team, Dr. Malik remembers that how difficult it was to write examination paper without a desk  at that time as the students had to sit on ground sometime even without any clothe (Darri) beneath them. The students there in the school had to bear the chilling winter and scathing heat in summer as there was almost nothing than pillar and a Kucha roof on the name of school building.

Vice Chancellor, credits his success  to parents, especially his father, a government employee in J & K forest department (now retired) who always supported him and never compromised with anything for his studies.

“It was my family support that encouraged me to move to Poonch city for high school and higher secondary studies till class 12^th and then after to pursue graduation, my parents allowed me to join Purvanchal university, Jaunpur and Master degree from Rajsthan University” tells the Vice Chancellor.

After completing his MSc he returned back to Poonch and then as a kind of social work,  served as a Rehbar-e-Talem Teacher  in middle school Brela  for over a year on monthly honorarium of Rs. 1500 per month. Thereafter he again went out of the state for higher studies.

Dr. Shazad Malik who is  now head of the institution  tells, his job as Rehbar-e-Talem teacher helped him a lot to learn and  understand the difficulties at ground zero and now the experience gained there is helping him to perform his duties as an administrator.

On asking; how does as a young man hailing from a humble family background and backward village, he feels, after risen to such a prestigious post of Vice Chancellor, he owed it to his teachers and compared them as real heroes of his life.

In his opinion, the education is the only key that can help India’s diverse society to augment personal development of an individual and it is the only factor that can lead to the nation on the path of growth and development.

Vice Chancellor tells that the Youth of Jammu and Kashmir State are second to none and the only thing they need is support and opportunity, he tells all the students from Rajouri and Poonch district who were admitted on his personal initiative performed well in the results and their performance encourages him  to extend support to many other deserving students.

Willing to revamp the educational system in the state, Dr. Malik has a dream to provide quality education to poor chidren, he reveals his plan of opening a private school in some remote village in district Poonch having all the modern infrastructure and highly qualified  faculty members and in this school only the  poorest of poorer would be allowed admission. He also lays special focus on regular training courses for the teachers to equip them and for capacity building, in his idea teaching is not a simple and easy profession that can be adopted after acquiring higher qualification or good grades in academic discourse, the teacher should have the ability to learn and only then he can be a good teacher.

He believes, the quality of higher education in Jammu and Kashmir state is stagnant, without making any reference to any particular university of Jammu or Kashmir regions, he asks for over all revamp and called for emphasis on research based courses, for over decades  the education system in J & K universities is moving with snail’s pace and that needs to be changed. He suggests to turn university classes into workshops where the teachers allow fresh research based ideas of  pupil and then  both  spend time on it to find out the outcome for welfare of the society. Practical oriented courses should be introduced in the curriculum. He also calls for frequent exchange of faculty and students not only to different universities of the country but across the globe. Education is  a global phenomenon and we cannot confine it, it is time to open our minds and doors for exchange of ideas and there must be flexibility to learn new innovations.  

Commenting on the current political scenario in the country and in Jammu and Kashmir state, Dr. Malik Says he believe in Idea of ‘India’ without any bias with anyone on the name of religion, region, cast, creed and gender, everyone should be treated fairly and must be given equal platform to prove his abilities. 

He also says that there cannot be any compromise on nationalism and the idea of India, he says he is a proud Indian and his only appeal to the youth of the country to remain true to the allegiance and sovereignty of the country without any doubt in the mind. Dr. Malik admits that his idea of Nationalism does not go well with everyone and this has attributed some adversaries against him but he never give up what he strongly feels for the country. He says a good teacher is always a ‘Learner’ and he also learns from people, students, teachers and even from helping staff in the university. 

A good piece of advice  is not copyright of only so called elite class, it can be from anyone therefore I keep interacting with new people”. Asserts Dr. Malik..

Think ‘Jammu’ Beyond Municipal Limits !

Discrimination with Sub-Regions !

Raman Sharma

I am a proud Jammuite and shall always remain so, there is also  no denial that people of Jammu are liberal, tolerant and do not confine themselves to prejudices but at the same we cannot deny the very fact that certain vested interests especially  immoral political leaders mislead people here  to grab votes, instigate and exploit the innocent people of  Jammu.

As these leaders lack any vision, ground or any concrete idea and positive political ideology to offer  therefore they find it appropriate to divide the people on regional lines and keep grinding their own axe. They always play Jammu -Card in State Politics to prove their worth and pose themselves as the champions of the cause of Jammu.

Many such  politicians  have successfully built   an impression that Jammu is area that falls in old city but the fact of the matter is that  Jammu is neither  geographical area within municipal Limits comprising  71 Wards governed by Jammu Municipal Corporation nor it is the name of just a district ‘Jammu’  but it is collective nomenclature of ‘Jammu’ division comprising 10 districts including Doda, Kathua, Jammu, Udhampur, Rajouri, Ramban, Reasi, Samba, Kishtwar and Poonch.  Total population of these 10 districts is over 53 Lac and that of Jammu district is 1526406, which is around 29 percent of total population of ‘Jammu’ division and rest of 71 % population reside in other remaining 9 districts.

 The total population residing in 71 wards of Jammu city is just 576198, which is  30 percent of the total population of Jammu district and just 10 percent of total population of ‘Jammu’ division. The reason for giving above numerical figure is to put some records straight as far as politics in Jammu and Kashmir is concerned or most specifically the politics in the name of ‘Jammu’ is concerned.

The political parties having influence   in the region or the self acclaimed champions of Jammu’s cause   always beat the drum of discrimination with ‘Jammu’ but for them ‘Jammu’ means only wards under the Jurisdiction of JMC.

These political leaders and so called saviours of Jammu’s interest never take the issues of other sub regions of Jammu seriously, for example for the past few years there have been thousands of road accidents in hilly districts like Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban, during the period 2009 to March-2015 there have been over   2400 road accidents in which 823 persons lost their lives and 3700 others injured but seldom we heard any serious concern expressed by these Political parties and leaders though their ritual condolence messages remain confined up to press notes.

There have never been a sincere effort by the Jammu leadership to improve road connectivity in these areas and to build proper health infrastructure in these sub regions so that the people there need not to remain depend upon Government Medical College Bakshi Nagar, Jammu.

There have been a decades old  demand from the people and legal fraternity hailing from twin district of Rajouri-Poonch and also from areas falling erstwhile Doda district for setting up a bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court there so that the litigants do not suffer and the lawyers can file their appeals and writs in the local bench, at present a number of petitioners who lose their cases in the subordinate courts do not challenge the verdict in the High Court as it is not easy for the poor litigants to travel so long and then also pay the fees of their counsel.  The parties in both criminal as well as in civil suits fail to even knock the doors of the higher judiciary. Jammu’s leaders must be answerable to these poor litigants whose dear ones remain behind the bars or who are unable to contest the illegal occupation of their property by some land encroacher how to get justice from higher judiciary in absence of any bench of the High Court.

How one can forget that even some Jammu leaders instead of being jubilant; agitated even on re-opening of  historic Mughal Road connecting Rajouri-Poonch with Kashmir otherwise the poor people from these areas had to firstly visit  Jammu and then go to valley unnecessarily putting a financial and time consuming burden on them. This road is now being used as an alternative highway connecting Jammu with Kashmir. Now, slowly Mugal road is also somehow helping in the economy of these twin districts and the people from these districts got an alternative market in Valley for buying and selling the products besides increasing scope of employability. If the Jammu’s leadership had shown some sincerity earlier and opened this route few decades ago then these remote sub regions would have also excelled.

Comparing the number of government educational institutes in district Jammu with rest of the 9 districts  would also be helpful to understand the behaviour of Jammu leadership with these sub-regions who deserve their due share and of course must have sufficient number of degree colleges, higher secondary schools, High Schools and middle/primary schools in blocks and tehsils.

Policing: In Jammu district and more specifically for different Mohallas falling in 3 assembly segments of Jammu in each lane and Kucha there is a Police Station or Police Post but no one needs to tell that there are many areas in other 9 districts where to cover areas of more than 25 to 50 Kms, only one police Station or Police post is established with deputation of a very few policemen. In district Jammu alone there are more than 25 Police Stations which is obviously  more than the total number of police stations in 3 districts like Kathua, Samba and Udhampur.

Anyhow it is never too late but even today  the sub-regions are not being heard, the poor health facilities in the remaining districts, other than Jammu district are pitiable. On the name of district and sub district hospitals these sub-regions do have walls and roofs but  almost negligible number of specialised doctors like surgeons, neuro-surgeons, heart specialists, paediatric specialist,  physiatrist, gynaecologist or even dental surgeons. The mother-infant mortality rate in these regions  can also reveal the kind of health facilities offered there. The patients even with otherwise non serious diseases also fall prey of lack of infrastructure and succumb to their illness. The doctors: population ratio  is below the national average but these serious issues are buried beneath the carpet. It is deplorable that many of these health institutes in  9 districts do not have working ambulances. In operation theatres in absence of electricity, the surgical operations cannot be done because electric generators  are not provided there. In short it is perhaps  only blessings of God or good luck of 71 percent population of Jammu living in these 9 districts that despite complete negligence and step motherly treatment they are surviving.  

  Now once again the self acclaimed champions, this time not in a political dress code but with the same motive are in streets of Jammu again beating the drum of discrimination with their ‘Jammu’ on the name of non-setting up of AIIMS, All India Institute of Medical Sciences in their Jammu. This agitation behind the curtain is fully supported and patronaged  by the same Congress leaders who enjoyed power with PDP and National Conference for over 12 years and who were shown exit door by the people of Jammu for their utter failure in delivering it to the people. Many of these former minister seen in this AIIMS agitation are facing serious charges of corruption and grabbing government land.  The substance of non-setting up of AIIMS in  Jammu is being orchestrated and projected as an ego and prestige issue of entire Jammu region. These champions who are now leading the pride war of their Jammu want support of every sub-region but they are not whispering even to set up any new health institute in some other district of Jammu.  

These champions who are issuing agitation and Jammu band calendar should tell the people of these remaining 9 districts that why not setting up at least one Medical College in these districts. Jammu has no right to treat the other sub regions as its colony.. There are many other important issues other than AIIMS on which pressure could have been made on the state government for delivery of services in other parts of the region but the entire focus has been shifted to establish AIIMS.  Sooner Jammu leaders realise this facts that there is an anger simmering  amongst the people of  these sub-regions  and the day is not far away when they would seek an independent identity not subjective to Jammu. Establishment of AIIMS in Jammu is a desire but our other sub-regions truly deserve better health facilities. About Raman Sharma: he is an RTI Activists and resident of Old City Jammu, can be reached [a] jktiact@gmail.com .Mobile  9796811012.

published in Rising Kashmir on 6th August, 2015.

 http://www.risingkashmir.com/article/the-jammu-beyond-the-municipal-limits/

Also published in Journey Line on 12th Aug,2015 and in Kashmir Times on 14/Aug/2015

KASHMIR TIMES, 14/ AUG/2015