Restore Muslim school demolished during Emergency: Delhi High Court

By A Representative
The Delhi High Court has asked the lieutenant governor and the Delhi government to restore the poor Qaumi School, demolished during the Emergency on June 30, 1976, by finding a place for its rebuilding. Currently, it is being run from the Delhi Eidgah ground, and operates in tin sheds.
At the same time, it directed the Delhi government to meet all the stake holders to find a solution to provide adequate land and building for the institution.
Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court division bench Gita Mittal said, no matter to whom the land belongs to, it must be found out, and 1 to 2 acres should be given to the school, as it is the question of 722 innocent children who are studying under the tin shed.
She was responding to petitioner Firoz Bakht Ahmed, a social activist, who appeared in person, as advocate who his counsel Atyab Siddiqui on account of bereavement in family, could not appear in the court.
Bakht said, the Delhi chief secretary MM Kutty has ordered his law officer to find out the status of the land, about 15-16 acres, on which the school earlier stood. Some believe belongs to the Waqf Board, while others say, it is Delhi Development of Authority’s (DDA’s) or Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD’s). Till date there is no clarity on the owner of land, which DDA claims belongs to it and requires it for recreational purposes.
Suggesting that the manner in which the school is being run runs contrary to the Delhi Education Act, Justice Mittal said, no school should operate from under tin sheds. She reprimanded Sanjay Ghosh, Delhi government counsel, who did not submit the chief secretary’s report on the school on time.
When the counsel for DDA stated that the DDA can't give any land free of cost for any reason, Justice Mittal told him that the school that was demolished on June 30, 1976, had possessed its own ground plus four floor structure with 23 rooms as stated in the petition and must be compensated.
Bakht, referring to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, highlighted that the Delhi government was obliged to provide land and building for the poor students of Qaumi School, under Sections 6, 7 and 8.
He said that the school was constructed during the post-Partition phase, using funds arranged by Muslims, who had decided to stay back in rather than choosing to go to Pakistan and as award, their wards are now to fend for themselves under the tin sheds where attending the classes in terrible summers and chilling winters is a havoc.
Bakht argued, the Qaumi School, demolished on June 30, 1976, was shifted from Sarai Khalil in Sadar Bazaar to the Eidgah land in Quresh Nagar, where it has been functioning as a makeshift institution from the tented and tinned premises. He added that nothing has been done to restore the school despite promises for allotment of land and building.
“Under RTE, it is obligatory on the State to provide infrastructure including a school building. The civic authorities have failed to discharge the statutory onus,” said the petition. The school runs classes up to senior secondary level. The school was launched in 1948 with 23 rooms in a building.

Comments

From plagiarism to proxy exams: Galgotias and systemic failure in education

By Sandeep Pandey* Shock is being expressed at Galgotias University being found presenting a Chinese-made robotic dog and a South Korean-made soccer-playing drone as its own creations at the recently held India AI Impact Summit 2026, a global event in New Delhi. Earlier, a UGC-listed journal had published a paper from the university titled “Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis,” which became the subject of widespread ridicule. Following the robotic dog controversy coming to light, the university has withdrawn the paper. These incidents are symptoms of deeper problems afflicting the Indian education system in general. Galgotias merely bit off more than it could chew.

Covishield controversy: How India ignored a warning voice during the pandemic

Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD * It is a matter of pride for us that a person of Indian origin, presently Director of National Institute of Health, USA, is poised to take over one of the most powerful roles in public health. Professor Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian origin physician and a health economist, from Stanford University, USA, will be assuming the appointment of acting head of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA. Bhattacharya would be leading two apex institutions in the field of public health which not only shape American health policies but act as bellwether globally.

The 'glass cliff' at Galgotias: How a university’s AI crisis became a gendered blame game

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* “She was not aware of the technical origins of the product and in her enthusiasm of being on camera, gave factually incorrect information.” These were the words used in the official press release by Galgotias University following the controversy at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The statement came across as defensive, petty, and deeply insensitive.

Growth without justice: The politics of wealth and the economics of hunger

By Vikas Meshram* In modern history, few periods have displayed such a grotesque and contradictory picture of wealth as the present. On one side, a handful of individuals accumulate in a single year more wealth than the annual income of entire nations. On the other, nearly every fourth person in the world goes to bed hungry or half-fed.

Thali, COVID and academic credibility: All about the 2020 'pseudoscientific' Galgotias paper

By Jag Jivan The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs , Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi . The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by Dharmendra Kumar , Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

By Rajiv Shah A recent book, " Luminous Footprints: The Christian Impact on India ", authored by two Jesuit scholars, Dr. Lancy Lobo and Dr. Denzil Fernandes , seeks to counter the current dominant narrative on Indian Christians , which equates evangelisation with conversion, and education, health and the social services provided by Christians as meant to lure -- even force -- vulnerable sections into Christianity.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava* Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.

When grief becomes grace: Kerala's quiet revolution in organ donation

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Kerala is an important model for understanding India's diversity precisely because the religious and cultural plurality it has witnessed over centuries brought together traditions and good practices from across the world. Kerala had India's first communist government, was the first state where a duly elected government was dismissed, and remains the first state to achieve near-total literacy. It is also a land where Christianity and Islam took root before they spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Kerala has deep historic rationalist and secular traditions.

Search This Blog