A Deobandi in RSS: The story of Maulana Waseem-ur-Rehman
I don’t know how many of you came across this story of a graduate from Deoband making it through the UPSC Civil Services Examinations
The story is good and inspiring but the odd thing is the way in which it has been reported. Note the differences (in blue) and enjoy (emphasis mine):
From: Madrasa student cracks civils by Mateen Hafeez | TNN
Mumbai: At a time when eyebrows are being raised about education standards in madrasas, a maulana from the Darul-Uloom-Deoband in Uttar Pradesh has passed the country’s most elite examination, the civil services exam, in his fourth attempt. For his interview, the maulana took training from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-run institute Samkalp at Paharganj in New Delhi.
Maulana Waseem-ur-Rehman, 31, is the first student from a madrasa to clear the civil services exams. Rehman comes from a poor family in Siddharth Nagar, Basti, UP. He stood 404th among 734 successful candidates. Rehman, who took history and Persian as optional subjects, wrote the exam in Urdu.
He told TOI that he worked for four years. “In three earlier attempts, I failed in the prelims. As this was my last chance, I worked harder,” he said.
Rehman completed five years of schooling in a madrasa, Ahyaul Uloom, before joining Darul-Uloom-Deoband. He did a threeyear course in Islamic studies, Hadith, the Quran and Shariat laws.
He did not know there was a syllabus for the civil service exam. “I had to collect books and notes from several places and would study at night and early morning as I had to attend MD classes during the day.”
(Responding to the question)…Was studying for the civil services exam difficult, since he came from a different academic background? (he said) “Yes, but madrasa education has given me the power to think and I have good knowledge of philosphy since it was explained properly in the madrasa,” he said.
About his experience at the RSS-run Samkalp, Rehman said, “I did not feel any bias. They are doing a good job,” he said.
So far, so good…Now read this report: Madrasa student cracks UPSC. It is almost identical except for the addition of this sentence to the third para above:
“In my three earlier attempts, I failed in the prelim exams. This time, it being my last chance, I worked harder and made it a point to pass the exams. By the grace of Allah I am among the successful candidates,’’ he said.
Also interesting is this tidbit:
…Those on the interview panel for the exam asked Rehman to explain why the ratio of males to females is more equal for Muslims than for other communities. “I answered everything in the light of Islam and they were convinced by my replies,’’ he added.
I would be very keen to hear what he said.
Talking about his experience at the RSSrun Samkalp, Rehman said, “It was a great time. They even informed me that I was selected for the coaching class and called me up regularly until I joined them. I did not feel any biased attitude over there. They are doing a good job,’’ he said. Of 825 IAS aspirants trained by Samkalp, 295 have passed the exam this year.
Now for the twist:
From Not aware of IAS institute’s RSS connection - Deoband cleric (from IANS). Note the snide insinuations:
…”I was not aware that Sankalp, the coaching institute located in Jhandewalan (New Delhi), was run by the RSS,” Rehman, 31, told IANS. “I had only gone to them for the interview test coaching and they held four-five classes and a mock interview,” he said.
Sankalp is a coaching institute run by RSS for civil service aspirants. It has minimal charges and ropes in retired civil servants — preferably those close to the right wing Sangh parivar ideology. Claiming to be a highly professional institute, Sankalp boasts of a high success rate. It has several branches in Delhi and other cities.
Rehman had to start from scratch as nobody in his circle knew how to go about the preparations for the exams. “I collected the relevant books and took coaching from institutes other than Sankalp,” he said.
Congratulations Waseem-ur-Rehman and we hope your story inspires many others. Well done!
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Related Posts:
The great joke that is Indian media - part 2 *must read*
The great joke that is Indian media…
If education enables one to think freely and more clearly by using one’s God-given ability to reason, how is it that adverse consequences are administered when one dares to contradict the philosophies of the instructors. Blind faith is not educated thought. There are none so blind as they who refuse to see, even when confronted with overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Neither does philosophical logic render one educated. Any good philosopher can lead you down the wrong path if you first buy into the philosopher’s basic assumptions. Don’t believe all you hear. The search for truth is a continuous journey. Critical thinking is essential to an educated person. Often fimes wisdom comes only after one has accumulated a degree of experience from which one can more wisely compare and contrast the potential of present situatiions.
Comment by edbooked | June 7, 2008
That’s great !
Comment by Jagmohan Singh Khurmi | June 8, 2008
Well, the first thing that is proved is that muslims are not operssed minorty in India as they are fond of telling. A muslim in India, if he/she wants to be, can become anything they like ( can the Hindus in Pakistan or Bangladesh say so ? )
The other thing to be noticed is that he was able to break thru not because of Madrassa, but inspite of Madrassa
By the way does Mujjahudin or Taliban or Harqat ul Ansar operate coaching centres where minorities can get help without discrimination ? ( RSS is often called terrorist outfit by pseudo-secularists and placed in level of muslim terrorist organisations )
Comment by Jagmohan Singh Khurmi | June 16, 2008