Srinagar: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said that the ban on schools run by Falah-e-Aam Trust (FAT), an affiliate of banned Jamaat-e-Islami, is "another form of atrocity" inflicted on the people of Jammu and Kashmir to "sabotage" their future.
After land ownership, resources and jobs, the last "target" is education, she said.
More than 300 educational institutions run by FAT have been stopped from operating by the Jammu and Kashmir school education department.
An order to this effect was issued by School Education Secretary B K Singh on June 13.
"Move to ban FAT affiliated schools is another form of atrocity inflicted on people of J&K to sabotage their future. After land ownership, resources & jobs the last target is education. I am sure Kashmiris will overcome this & not let their children suffer," Mehbooba wrote on Twitter.
The order issued by School Education Secretary Singh also asked chief education officers of various districts to seal the schools run by FAT within 15 days in consultation with the district administration.
It said that all the students studying in these banned institutions shall admit themselves to nearby government schools for the current session.
The order came in the backdrop of investigations done by the Jammu and Kashmir Police's State Investigation Agency, which alleged gross illegalities, outright frauds and mass-scale encroachment of government lands by FAT.
Falah-e-Aam Trust
Falah-e-Aam, Urdu for 'common-weal', was set up by the JeI in 1972 as a "non-political" organisation to work for "education and service to mankind".
The schools, which followed the NCERT syllabus, provided an impetus to the field of education, especially in the rural areas of Kashmir.
Article 4 of the constitution of FAT specifies it as a “non-political” body dedicated to “education and service to mankind”, while Article 3 lists opening of “educational institutions to educate students from all shades of society without any discrimination” as one of its objectives.
There are over 300 FAT schools, including 16 in the Jammu division, which employs hundreds of teaching and non-teaching staff.
In 2014, over 75,000 students were enrolled in these schools, which were mostly run by the mohalla and village management committees after the 1990 ban and subsequent cases in the court.
(with inputs from PTI)
