No fewer than 47 school structures were torched by the unruly mobs during the externally sponsored unrest in the Valley last summer. Why did they torch the school buildings and why did not the locals come out in large numbers to resist attempts of destroying the institutions as it meant spoiling the career of their own kids. This is a very sorrowful state of affairs. Those who torched the schools comprise two groups. One of the groups supports Jamaat-i-Islami ideology and considers the Government schools as part of anti-Jamaat mission. Torching Government schools would force people to send their wards to Jamaati seminaries where not secular but sectarian education is imparted. The second group is of those miscreants who are linked to some political parties that are determined to see the ouster of the Coalition Government in one way or the other. So these two groups established unholy alliance and in tandem carried out the mission of torching Government schools.
This is the background of torched school structures. But the High Court has taken a different and perhaps pragmatic view of the case. It is of firm opinion that the Government has the duty and responsibility of rebuilding these schools without a day’s loss and ensures that school going children do not suffer in their educational career. This is a very pragmatic view of the case. The Court has taken up suo moto case because it has apprehensions that the Government would go on snail’s pace to rebuild the structures. That means tremendous loss to the students.