A group of madrasas in this central Indian town is quietly promoting the syncretic traditions of both Hinduism and Islam, far from the frenetic efforts of political custodians of religion to cement polarisation.
Five Muslim and two Hindu women form the Nida Mahila Mandal (NMM), which operates these schools, headquartered at Madrasa Firdaus, just outside the gates of old Mandsaur city.
The madrasas — with names like Madrasa Gurukul Vidyapeeth and Madrasa Jain Vardhaman — have a strength of 5,500 students from across the district. In 78 of these madarsas, Hindu students outnumber their Muslim friends.
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“We were educating children from poor families. A lot of poor Hindu families wanted to enrol their children in our schools, but were concerned about religious education,” says NMM chairperson Talat Qureshi.
“That is when we thought of reviving India’s older system of madrasas that offered subsidised education, and where such legends as Munshi Premchand, Raja Rammohun Roy, Bharatendu Harishchandra and Pandit Ramchandra Shukla had their education,” says Dr. Qureshi, a dentist by profession.