JEDDAH, 26 September — Parents of children studying at the International Indian School in Jeddah have taken exception to what they call “blatant interference” from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh in the day-to-day functioning of the school.
“Every decision taken by the democratically elected Managing Committee is vetoed by the embassy on some pretext or the other,” said an angry Shareef Kunju, coordinator of the school’s Parent Teacher Association. “The latest case in point is the postponement of the four-day Inter-School Sports Activity or Cluster Meet, as it is popularly called, which was to be held at Al-Ahli Stadium in Jeddah from yesterday.”
According to a letter issued by Zikrur Rahman, first secretary at the embassy, and addressed to Managing Committee Chairman Abdul Rahim, the event was being postponed “due to some administrative and logistical difficulties.”
“This is nonsense,” said Kunju.
“All preparations were made for the lodging and boarding of around 200 students and the parents who were to accompany them from Riyadh, Dammam, Jubail and Taif. The school had procured permission from the Makkah Governorate to hold the event and students in the four cities were preparing for the event for the last four weeks. Parents suspect that the embassy is playing a big spoiler,” he said.
“This was yet another attempt at belittling the efforts of the IISJ Managing Committee. Most of the children were in tears on hearing about the postponement. We expect the embassy to support us and not oppose the decisions taken by our elected representatives,” he added.
Kunju said the embassy was totally predisposed against an elected managing committee. “Our ambassador has said on more than one occasion publicly that he was against elected managing committees.”
Rahman, however, insisted that there were logistical difficulties. “We, at the embassy, are more concerned about the community than anybody else. Parents in Riyadh and Jubail complained at the eleventh hour about security problems. We, therefore, had no choice but to postpone the event,” he told Arab News yesterday.
Despite Rahman’s vehement denial that politics was behind the postponement of the event, the popular perception within the Indian community in Jeddah is that the embassy is feeling sidelined in the school affairs ever since the Ministry of Education clearly specified that the embassies have absolutely no role in any international schools.
Earlier managing committees were hand-picked by the ambassador or consul-general, a move that was detested by parents because of the propensity of the embassy officials to appoint people who would kowtow to their whims and fancies.
Parents are clearly delighted with the power they have to elect their own representatives. “We are very happy that we have an elected managing committee which is more accountable and more transparent. We can always pull them if they go astray,” said Siadat Ali Khan, a prominent member of the Hyderabadi community.
Majority of the parents who approached Arab News feel that the embassy is trying to drive a wedge among members of the Managing Committee with a view to hampering its decision-making process. They say the allegations leveled by Basharutulla Khan, which are still under investigation, reek of personal vendetta against the current chairman.
“It is a classic case of Indian power game,” said Muhammad Abdul Basheer, whose children study at the school. “Since Basharatulla Khan failed to muster enough support within the committee to become its chairman he is out to malign all members of the committee. If he had genuine grievances he should have taken the parents into confidence... He should have thrashed it out within the committee. His moves give us an impression that he is against the elective process.”
Jamalullah Quadri, president of the Andhra Pradesh Parents Association, was unequivocal in his condemnation of the current mudslinging. “This committee has done pretty well. Its intentions were good but it was handicapped by certain obstinate members who were more interested in protecting the interests of a few individuals rather than a large body of parents.”
His views were echoed by Dr. Imam Ghaus Mohiuddin. “This was the first experiment of an elected body... They did very well... And we parents have the satisfaction that we are running the school...”
Muhammad Abdu, another parent, said the embassy was out to prove that an elected managing committee cannot run the school and that only a managing committee appointed by the embassy can do a better job.
“We will not allow that to happen. This is the only committee that has increased the salaries of the school staff. The previous committees had only tried to burden the parents with additional fees. The committee also reduced the development fund contribution by SR500.”