OMEIAT

        In 1973, there were more than a hundred Muslim aided schools and colleges in Tamilnadu. All of them were fully charitable but they were functioning in isolation without any mutual consultation between them, unlike the Christian institutions who had a strong network both for preservation and promotion of their rights and priorities. The then State Government was about to enact new legislations which threatened minority rights and wanted to have more control on private institutions including the powers to take over even minority schools and colleges. Muslim managements which had properties endowed for their institutions became anxious and they began transferring the endowed properties to their parent bodies. Under these circumstances, some alert individuals rose to the occasion and sought the help of MEASI to bring all Muslim managements together for effective remedies required.

        In response to this the then hony secretary of MEASI Mr.A.A.Rasheed convened a meeting of muslim colleges and schools whose address were available, to consider their problems and to find solutions for them. He had to convene quite a few such meetings in the MEASI chamber. Along with this, a delegation under the leadership of Mr.Habibullah Badsha was sent to meet the then chief minister and others concerned to express concern about the pending legislations and sought protection given to minority institution under Article 30 of Constitution of India. The response was positive and the Government gave certain exemptions from the clauses like the power to take over minority institutions. As a result of our representation the pending legislations which came out in the form of the Tamilnadu Private Schools Regulation Act and the Private Colleges Regulation Act did not include the take over power. Christian institutions applauded our successful efforts as a result of which both muslims and Christians enjoy those exemption to this day. Simultaneously the informal group undertook a sample survey of educational standards of Muslims in the State and convened a two day Tamilnadu educational conference on 22nd & 23rd of September 1973 with the whole hearted co-operation of MEASI and The New College in its campus. The results of the survey done along with a lot of other useful information were published in a memorable souvenir - "The first Tamilnadu Education Conference". This conference, the first Tamilnadu Muslim Educational Conference was attended by about 300 delegates from all over Tamilnadu, finally decided to set up a permanent body to collectively fight all threats facing them and solve other problems as and when they arise regarding their institutions. A compact team of M/s.Habibullah Badsha, A.A. Rasheed, A.K. Abdus Samad Dr.J.Azeezur Rahman, Kaka Mohamed Umar, C.M.Fazlur Rahman and P.K.Shabbir Ahmed was entrusted with this task. Accordingly they founded OMEIAT and got it registered in 1974. All muslim colleges, schools, madrasas and charitable educational trust of Tamilnadu are eligible to become institutional members of OMEIAT. Each institution nominates one of its members to the general body of OMEIAT. He / She remains as a member of the general body until he / she is replaced by the concerned college or school management. These nominated representatives constitute the general body which elects every three years, from among themselves, office bearers and the members of the executive board, the governing body. Following this registration, the first official general body meeting was conducted in the New College in 1974. This was well attended by almost all members. It was decided to hold annual general body meetings in different districts of Tamilnadu to cover all areas of the State over a period of time. This is being followed to the extent possible. Every year such A.G.B is being conducted along with conference or seminar for discussing current problems / developments.

        The most acknowledged service rendered by OMEIAT has been its success in winning many cases of muslim colleges and schools under Article (30) of the Constitution of India. As soon as OMEIAT was registered in 1974, thanks to the most willing and free services of Mr.Habibullah Badsha the hony legal advisor, OMEIAT went to the high court of madras and got minority status for about 80 schools in just two writ petitions in quick succession. After this, individual schools and colleges in large numbers applied for membership of OMEIAT and they were duly admitted. With the help of OMEIAT they got minority status. This trend is still on but the government is making this process more and more difficult. However OMEIAT does not give up its efforts. When the Tamilnadu Tamil Learning Act 2006 was passed, OMEIAT met the then Education Minister many times and the then C.M once for detailed discussion about our complaints regarding Urdu & Arabic. As a direct result of this, the then government issued two G.O's. The G.O 316 specifically mentions the problems of muslim schools regarding Arabic & Urdu in their schools. The G.O 44 clearly asked the department of education to give the same importance to Urdu / Arabic as given to Tamil in the S.S.L.C exam. This order was to be implemented by the officials. But with change of the government in 2011 the new officers were not prepared to implement the G.O. The repeated representations by OMEIAT to the officials went waste. At this stage OMEIAT went to the high court seeking at least exemption from compulsory Tamil in the SSLC public exam - 2016. Linguistic Minority Forum of Tamilnadu (LIMFOT) also went to the court along with us using the very same arguments of OMEIAT. Not satisfied with this limited relief, we were pleading for a total solution but the court process was slow. Hence once again OMEIAT and LIMFOT had to get exemption from compulsory Tamil for SSLC exam of 2017. Currently the efforts are on moving the government.

        Because of such sustained action for preserving minority rights, OMEIAT has come to be known as a champion of minority rights. But OMEIAT believes and it also spreads the message that minority rights by themselves are not our goal. The real goal is to utilize these minority rights, the way the Christian institutions do for (a) using minority rights to admit all muslim students in to courses wanted by them (b) paying special attention to poor or /and otherwise disadvantaged youth through fee concessions, scholarships and extra coaching to make up what they lack (c) trained them to be skilled & employable (d) giving religious & moral education to mould them as model muslims & model citizens, of the nation.
        Soon after formation of OMEIAT the members felt the need for a monthly house journal, and this resulted in the birth of OMEIAT Journal in 1976. For the following purposes: One of the aims of OMEAIT is to disseminate information among our managements and the community at large. Added to that, is the current situation when the very concept and purpose of education as well as external factors affecting educational institutions are changing very fast. With some exceptions, most of our correspondents and even the institutional heads, for various reasons, are not able to take proper and timely notice of all these changes and act promptly and appropriately. Under these circumstances this journal, with all its limitations, is making an attempt to keep alive the spirit of service relevant to the demands of time.

1. Documenting new Acts, Rules, G.O’s and other orders being issued from time to time by the Central and State Governments as well as directives of Universities and other academic bodies, core judgments on matters of education, educational institutions and minority rights.

2. Recoding a digest of news and notes relevant to our causes, interests, aspirations and values.

3. Helpful hints to teachers for better performance.

4. Real stories which can inspire our institutions and social activists to higher levels of servicing.

5. Information on currently valuable courses and careers with the expectation that the heads of institutions will at least arrange to disseminate by displaying such information on the student’s notice boards.

6. Regular information on Government Scholarship Schemes for Muslims and other Central / State Government welfare schemes meant for Muslims and job opportunities available to our Muslim Brothers / Sisters are also included.

7. Some information on how to get admission into prestigious professional institutions by taking competitive entrance exams like JEE, AIPMT and AIEEE, indicating also the seed money available from OMEIAT Institute Trust for deserving students taking coaching from reputed centers for such entrance examinations as well as Civil Services Examinations, are also published.

       Thought provoking Editorials on Muslim education and other articles have attracted good response and appreciation necessitating some times translated reprints in Tamil or Urdu. Since then this has been coming out, with all difficulties month after month without any interruption. Another improvement was the creation of OMEIAT Institute Trust in 1986 to collect special funds for purposes like conducting coaching programmes for jobs, refreshes courses, teacher training programmes and to award scholarships for courses which will make the students more readily employable.

       For a long time OMEIAT office was functioning in The New College itself with the fullest co-operation of its management and staff. Then due to certain practical difficulties OMEIAT voluntarily shifted its office alone to Siddique Sarai. For other activities which required bigger space OMEIAT had no problem in conducting them in The New College. When Dr. A. M. Salahuddin took over as general secretary, he secured accommodation for OMEIAT in the campus of Anjuman-e-Himayath-e-Islam because of better facilities available there. Even though we had only a room allotted to OMEIAT in that campus, OMEIAT was generously allowed by the authorities of the Anjuman to use other spaces whenever required. When Mr. U. Mohammed Khalilullah became the President, in his magnanimity he felt like relocating OMEIAT in its own birthplace – the MEASI campus - with a separate block. When he mooted this proposal in MEASI, all his colleagues immediately agreed with equal magnanimity to the proposal. He also raised necessary funds for putting up this block. Thus OMEIAT has gratefully come back to this campus to quietly serve the common cause of Muslim education without any problem to anybody or any body in this campus, as has been the record of OMEIAT in the New College earlier, Siddiq Serai and Anjuman-EHimayath-E-Islam.