Recently, reports appeared in the media about a group of students of Nirmala College located in Muvattupuzha in Kerala protesting against the college authorities’ decision not to allow prayer spaces within college premises to facilitate Friday prayers (Jumah). The Principal was gheraoed as part of protests.  The students obviously belonged to a particular faith.

 Reacting to protests within an educational institution with an excellent academic track record, the Syro-Malabar Church and the Catholic Congress termed the unprecedented turn of events as ‘systematic religious communal invasion against Christian minority institutions in Kerala.’ this reaction of the Church surely went overboard. This was an isolated incident to draw conclusions from.

While this incident which exemplifies an unhealthy trend that might be eroding Kerala’s educational and communal milieu stirs the hornet’s nest, it poses questions that demand answers.

Should educational institutions really house spaces for prayer or places of worship within their premises?  Almost every educational institution managed by Christian community houses a church or a place of worship within their four walls. I can vouch for this, as I studied in schools and colleges managed by the Church, except probably medicine, where an eating-place managed by Indian Coffee House functioned in a building within the expansive campus of my Alma Mater.

Admittedly, I have personally not frequented ‘prayer spaces’ where I studied. I don’t consider this a reason for my lackluster academic track-record. There were indeed others!

 Educational institutions managed by other religious communities in Kerala do not generally have a place of worship that corresponds to a Christian place of worship.  No untoward incident happens in those institutions for dearth of such areas. After all, God does not dwell within concrete structures constructed by human hands. He never has. Nor will He ever, especially in these times.

In olden days, students used to be identified by their names and probably also by their academic and extra-curricular brilliance, rather than by their faith. Those days typically would commence with an assembly where the pledge would be recited by every student and faculty. Followed by a prayer or a prayer song, and conclude with the National Anthem.  Some institutions would have students read the day’s news headlines before dispersing to respective classes.  During breaks, athletically gifted students would engage in sporting activities. Nobody prayed inside educational institutions, except in exam halls!

Prayers weregenerally confined to a particular day in a place allotted for that, weather permitting, or in the privacy of their homes. Wearing religion on the sleeves was generally scoffed at, or ignored. Despite that, an odd one would hang a cross on the rosary, or sport a tilak or tie a wrist thread, which never added to his or her standing among friends. Life in educational institutions was fun. Students would befriend each other in the classroom irrespective of faith. Getting the report card signed by the guardian alone was cause for discomfiture, if any, back then.

What happened in Nirmala College reflects demonstrative, loud, and often compulsive religiosity that is the curse of today’s society, and which will ultimately tear it asunder.

Muvattupuzha is a town dotted with places of worship belonging to major faiths in Kerala. If students in that College badly need to pray, they very well can do so, with permission of college authorities in those designated places during breaks. But, the problem here is that the students who demanded prayer space in the college were disallowed from praying in their place of worship, as they were girls. This should be addressed by that particular community. It is not the college’s concern. For, educational institutions are places were students are supposed to study. Not pray.

This unsavory incident is one which ought to be considered with due priority and seriousness by the state government. The political alliance governing Kerala must nip such unhealthy tendencies in the bud before they boil over. Political shortsightedness and kid-glove handling of a particular community for electoral gains, where all roads ultimately lead to, must not push the government into inaction, nor have thorny issues brushed under the carpet.      

Providentially, before the issue could blow over into a larger communal issue, the Muvattupuzha Mahal committee intervened to settle the matter amicably. They met the college authorities to assure them of their support. They called for speedy resolution of the issue. The Mahal Committee general convener Adbul Majeed and Muslim League Muvattupuzha Mandalam President PA Basheer held talks with the college management. They claimed that the demand for the prayer room was made without the Mahal’s concurrence, and that the Muslim Students Federation was dragged into the issue with ulterior motives. They washed their hands off the protest, and assured the college management of arranging facilities for girl students to pray in the mosque that existed close to the college, reiterating that the college has no obligation to provide prayer space for the protesting students.

Meanwhile college Principal Fr. Justine Kannadan expressed gratitude to Muslim social organizations for their healing support. He claimed a few students who took part in the protest had apologized to him.

 Everybody hopes it is happy ending to an issue that ought not to have occurred in Kerala, one of the very few Indian states which can boast of true communal amity.