Rahmani-30: A school of hope

Rahmani-30: A school of hope
Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net

The Muslims of North India for historical reasons have not had very friendly relations with the local police. I was in Patna visiting Rahmani-30 when Abhayanand, Additional Director General of Police makes a visit in his official car. Rahmani-30 is set up on the pattern of Bihar Super-30 which is a successful experiment to pick and train 30 students from poor economic background and prepare them for entrance exam of famous Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Abhyanand waits while group of twenty odd Muslim students finish their afternoon prayers (Asr). These students have recently appeared for the class tenth exams and selected to Rahmani-30 after an entrance test and an interview. Entrance test was held in Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal – clearly a sign of increasing popularity of the institution that is barely a year old.

A year ago, Maulana Wali Rahmani, Sajjada Nasheen of Khanqah Rahmaniya, Munger and Secretary of All India Muslim Personal Law Board requested Abhayanand to help him set up Rahmani-30. Abhayanand was associated with Super-30 and readily agreed to the idea. The dearth of good quality students led them to start another batch of students who had just finished their tenth. So that they can be given quality education for two years and that way more students can be ready for the tough entrance exams of IITs (IIT-JEE).

I was visiting the institution just three days before the results of IIT-JEE were to be announced. No one could have imagined that all ten students would have qualified for India’s premier engineering institutions. At that time there were about twenty-five students who had arrived there from different districts of Bihar. A few students were from adjoining states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. These are the two years batch of Rahmani-30 that is preparing for IIT-JEE of 2011.

Abhayanand, who goes by only one name, arrived unannounced and a class was organized just after the Asr prayer. He went over some Physics problems for about 45 minutes. Students came out to see him off and he offered some words to inspire his young and eager students. Talks again turned to Physics and he continued the instructions on the back of his official car. This was a rare and a welcome sight to see police officers contributing towards the future of young Muslim students.

ADGP Abhayanand told me that he enjoys teaching and is now associated with five such experiments. Most of the students of these five institutions qualified for IIT. For economically and educationally backward state of Bihar this is very good news. And more than news, it is a hope that now even poor but meritorious students can achieve success with a bit of help. In Bihar, Rahmani-30 has given a new direction to Muslim students anxiously waiting for announcements of entrance exams and results.

Successful students of this year’s exam have already indicated that they will teach their juniors and once finished with their education will work for the benefit of the community. It costs Rs. 80,000 per year for each student’s expenses. Students are given free board, lodge and instructions. All expenses are met by Rahmani Foundation.

Rahmani-30 is a beacon of hope for Bihari Muslims not only because of the help it provides to meritorious students but also because a new generation of Muslims is taking up interest in the community affairs. Though Abhayanand and Wali Rahmani are the public face of Rahmani-30, volunteer team behind this institution consists of young Muslims in their 30s. These have jobs but volunteer their time to make sure that wheel of this coaching keeps turning. They make decisions for the day to day running to organizing exams.

With the successful result of this year’s IIT-JEE, Rahmani-30 and people associated with it have proved that they mean business and that with focused and sustained effort nothing is impossible.

Rahamani-30(Unit of Rahmani Foundation, Munger)
Address: Maulana Azad College of Business Management Campus,
Anisabad, Patna-2
Bihar
Contact: mdwalirahmani@gmail.com
Website: http://twocircles.net/rahmani30.html

Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net