Blaze destroys green patch on Nadwa campus
Though seminary administration attributed the blaze to natural causes, students blamed LU hostel inmates
Fire broke out in the rear portion of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema, one of the state’s oldest Islamic institutions, late on Sunday night.
The blaze destroyed a large patch of the greenery before the seminary’s students and faculty members managed to douse it.
Nadwa administration attributed the fire to natural reasons but the students of the 18th century Islamic seminary accused inmates of the neighbouring Lucknow University hostel of triggering the blaze.
“Hatred towards us made them start the fire,” a Nadwa student alleged.
Students alleged that the hatred that had always existed, had increased manifold ever since the BJP registered a thumping win in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Yogi Aditya Nath took charge as chief minister.
“Indulging in an act of leg-pulling is a part of history for both Lucknow University’s AND hostel and our Shibli hostel, situated adjacent. But things became serious after the BJP came to power in UP. It literally turned the 10 metre-long wall that separates us into a line of control,” alleged Nadwa students.
They said the leg-pulling that was earlier restricted to remarks or petty acts like pebble pelting turned had vigorous. “And now abuses, Jai Jai Sri Ram chants, stone pelting and racists remarks are common,” they added.
AND hostel inmates denied all allegations and blamed the Shibli hostel students of unruly behaviour. LU students also accused them of pelting stone and passing racists remarks. “It’s bad on their part as they always behave in an unruly manner and often indulge in stone pelting,” an inmate of AND hostel said.
The students also blamed Nadwa students for provoking the stone pelting incident reported in March, saying, “It was them (students of Shibli hostel) who started stone pelting”.
The ‘split’ among the students increased so much that the Nadwa administration had to approach Hasanganj police, seeking ‘protection’.
“This was last month, when stone pelting was reported among Nadwa and LU hostel inmates. We had deputed two constables at the wall that separates the two hostels to keep a check on such incidents,” Udaiveer Singh, inspector, Hasanganj told HT.
Students said there was peace for another couple of weeks but just a few days after the security was withdrawn, the fire incident was reported.
The Nadwa administration, however, denied that it was a man-made fire and said it might have been triggered due to natural reasons after a dust storm hit the city. “The fire might have been caused due to natural reasons as there were a lot of dry leaves and wood around,” said Maulana Saidur Rehman Azmi Nadvi, principal, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema.
Nadvi said the inmates of both the hostels shared great bonding and incidents of sloganeering and leg-pulling was a common thing among the students.
But he said the Nadwa administration would meet the LU administration, asking it to deploy guards along the wall that separated the two hostels.
NK Pandey, spokesperson Lucknow University said of late no major incident was reported barring the one reported almost a month back. “It’s not a regular phenomenon. However, we are trying to maintain discipline among the hostellers and will take necessary precautionary measures,” he said.