SRINAGAR: One of the oldest Christian Missionary School in Kashmir, Saint Joseph’s Higher Secondary School, Baramulla, with its own ups and down for more than a century, informed parents of students studying in the institution that the school was facing uncertainty due to expiry of the land lease, that had been pending renewal for more than a year.
The concerns were shared by the school management with parents a few days back after the registrations of the private schools that are operating on government land were not renewed by the administration. The administration had directed such schools to stop operating on the government land after their lease was not renewed. The government has decided to ‘tag’ the students of the private schools to nearby institutes.
The Private Schools’ Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) has expressed its deep concern and profound disappointment over it saying “if such an established institution can be targeted then no one is safe.” Expressing concern over the development, Private Schools’ Association of J&K has said the news has sent “shockwaves through the entire education community in Kashmir. If such an institution can be targeted then no one is safe.”
“With every similar step, we may face closure of hundreds of private schools. It throws the livelihood of thousands of teachers and school staff into uncertainty and threatens the very existence of private schools in the Valley,” it added.
“We urge the authorities to understand the gravity of this situation. This decision is not just bureaucratic, it is deeply emotional. It disrupts the lives of countless families and shatters the dreams of our children,” said a spokesperson for PSAJK in Srinagar. The statement was circulated among the local news gathering agencies and newspapers on Friday.
“These arbitrary decisions have given a permanency on the dark shadow hanging on the future of education in our valley and jeopardised the well-being of tens of thousands of students, who face similar situations in other schools. Private schools put in their blood and sweat to teach students and at the end of the year students are illegally tagged with government school where they have never set foot. We are heartbroken to see the future of our children being jeopardised by the continuation of these insensitive decisions,” said the spokesperson.
“This system, hell-bent on derailing education in Kashmir, must be reformed. We implore the authorities to prioritise the well-being of our children and work collaboratively with stakeholders to ensure a bright future for education in our beloved valley.”
The Principal of St Joseph’s School, in his letter to the parents, has said: “Before the expiry of the lease (of the land on which the school is built), in 2018, the management approached the department concerned for the renewal with relevant necessary documents, including the recommendations of Deputy Commissioner of Baramulla. The file has been pending in the office of the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, since April 2022.”
The letter says an NOC of Revenue Department concerned was sufficient to renew the affiliation of the school, but it could not evoke any response from the department concerned inspite of repeated appeals from the school management.
History of Missionary School in Baramulla
Saint Joseph’s School was founded by the Mill Hill Missionaries from England and Netherlands in 1903. The foundation of the school was laid by Father C. Simon, in late 19th century but it was eventually established in 1903.
The school was founded and run by Saint Joseph’s Missionary Society of Mill Hill as a Boarding school initially. It was run by the Society of Jesus after the Mill Hill Missionaries Left.
At present, it is owned by the Catholic Diocese of Jammu-Srinagar. With over 4,000 students enrolled, it continues to be one of the prestigious academic institutes of Jammu and Kashmir.
Its alumni include a galaxy of eminent people including Justice Mohammed Yusuf Saraf, Maqbool Butt, politician Altaf Bukhari and Afghan president Najibullah. The school is considered a pioneer of literacy in Baramulla.
Yusuf Jameel, a senior journalist from Kashmir described on his X post, “Saint Joseph’s Higher Secondary School, Baramulla, the Beacon of Learning, was my father’s alma mater. So our family has a special liking for it and our unique bond with Baramulla where he remained posted as a teacher and we lived at for twelve years is eternal.”
The school was burnt down by the tribal raiders in 1947. Their brutal attack on the adjacent St Joseph’s hospital has been well documented by Josef Korbel in ‘Danger in Kashmir’.
These Baramulla incidents were also the central episode of Andrew Whitehead’s ‘A Mission in Kashmir’.
Whitehead wrote that on the morning of October 27th, the first groups of attackers reached the hospital, and began smashing doors and seizing any items of value. “Their violence seems to have been restricted to those who sought to impede their progress. Within a matter of minutes, six people had either been killed or suffered fatal injuries. Besides Sister Teresalina and Tom and Biddy Dykes, these were a nurse or nursing assistant, Philomena, the husband of the hospital doctor, Jose Barretto, and Mrs Motia Devi Kapoor, a patient and the only non-Christian among those killed at St Joseph’s. The superior, Mother Aldetrude, suffered a bullet wound but survived.”
His account partly relied on the reports filed by British war correspondent Sydney Smith, who happened to be in Kashmir at that time.
His main account is based on the unpublished manuscript of the principal of St Joseph’s School, Rev, Father Shanks, who was an eye-witness and survivor of the carnage. He and several other members of the staff from the school had sought shelter in the adjoining hospital, believing that the latter would not be attacked.
Father Shanks recorded, “The first group burst into a ward firing at the patients. A 20-year old Indian nurse, Philomena, tried to protect a Muslim patient whose baby had just been born. She was shot dead first. The Patient was next. Mother Superior Aldetude rushed into the ward, knelt over Philomena and was at once attacked and robbed. The Assistant Mother, Teresalina, saw a tribesman point a rifle at Mother Aldetrude and jumped in front of her. A bullet went through Teresalina’s heart. At the moment Colonel Dykes, who had assured us we would not be attacked, raced from his room a few yards along the terrace to get the Mother Superior out of danger, shouting at the tribesmen as he ran. But the Mother Superior fell shot, and Colonel Dykes collapsed beside her with a bullet in the stomach. Mrs Dykes ran from her husband’s room to help him. She too was shot dead”.
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