The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Gujarat riot-hit children turn a new leaf

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Thursday, Mar 03, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Gujarat riot-hit children turn a new leaf

By J.S. Ifthekhar

HYDERABAD, MARCH 2. Nothing dries sooner than a tear. But the unseen scars still bleed. A kind of videotape of horror keeps running through their mind -- marauding mobs, bloodshed, screams of victims.

But the children of riot-affected Gujarat families are trying not to be bogged down by the traumatic past. They are determined to turn a new leaf at the Mesco Grades School in Toli Chowki where they are pursuing studies. And the results are astounding. Twenty eight boys who appeared for the Class VII Board examination in 2003-04 have cleared it in first division. Malik Munawwar, the lone child to write the SSC examination, too has passed in the first division.

120 boys enrolled

Considering the harrowing times they went through and their poor educational background this is no mean achievement. This turn-around is largely due to the efforts of the Mesco team which is equally determined to make the children give their best. "More than rehabilitation we want to empower them," says Fakhruddin Mohammed, chairman, Mesco Governing Board.

A total of 120 boys in the age group of 8-14 from the riot-ravaged Gujarat are enrolled in Mesco from 1st to 8th class. Among them are nine orphans who have lost both their parents in the carnage. Soon after the spree of violence that rocked Gujarat in 2002, the Mesco team of doctors rushed from Hyderabad and took up relief works. Later on the request of the Gujarat Sarwajanik Relief Committee, Mesco agreed to take care of the children.

Counselling

Consequently, the first batch of 47 children arrived in 2002. Next year 56 more followed and last year 17 more children came taking the total to 120. Mesco, which has a team of doctors on its board, ensures that the children are not haunted by the gory past that forced them to come to Hyderabad. "We try to keep their morale high and motivate them to do better in studies," says M. Mushtaq Ali, convenor, Mesco Grades.

But it is easier said than done. Most of the children are slow learners and some of them often show an aggressive side and quarrel among themselves. "Perhaps the traumatic incidents they witnessed could be the reason. We try to calm them through moral teachings," says Syeda Fakrunnisa, principal.

Not all the children at Mesco are from poor background. Some of the affluent families have also admitted their kids here as they still feel insecure in Gujarat. Interestingly, some families which have recouped after the riots have withdrawn their children from Mesco.

Don't the kids get home sick? They do. Come Sunday they eagerly look forward to the phone call from home. Twice a year they visit their homes and parents also drop in regularly to see them.

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