More children from Bihar, headed to a madrasa, ‘rescued’ in Odisha despite parents’ consent

A group of 59 children from Bihar’s Araria district travelling to Odisha to study at a madrasa were stopped at Cuttack station by the railway police, their parents told Scroll on Wednesday evening.

A local news report said the children were “rescued” by the Railway Protection Force and handed over to the Cuttack Child Welfare Committee. But their parents told Scroll that their children were headed for the Jamia Islamia Riyaztul Oloom madrasa in Jagatsinghpur, about 40 km from Cuttack.

Advocate MD Nawaz Hassan, who is representing the parents in Araria, told Scroll that a maulvi from the madrasa was not allowed to take the children, who are being kept at a government-run shelter home by the Child Welfare Committee, Cuttack. Scroll has a list of the 59 children and their names and addresses.

SK Shareef, the maulana who heads the Jamia Islamia Riyaztul Oloom madrasa, told Scroll that the teachers accompanying the children had Aadhaar cards and consent letters from their parents. “These two documents are adequate,” said Shareef. “But the police detained the children after producing this.” Shareef said he not travelled Cuttack so far.

Scroll contacted Manoj Vishwas, chairperson of the Cuttack Child Welfare Committee, but he did not respond to calls and messages. This report will be updated if he replies.

An inspector with the Railway Police Force, Cuttack, told Scroll that so far the police have not registered a first information report. “The case is under investigation,” he said.

Hassan, the advocate for the parents, said that four to five men were with the children, but the police inspector said there was only maulana with the group.

“Some children were seven to eight years old. That is very young,” said the police inspector. “This raises suspicion, especially if the person accompanying them has no concrete answers.”

The inspector said that the railway police asked for the admission forms of the madrassa and if the parents had visited the madrasa before. “The person said no. So we decided to hand over the children to the CWC for further inquiry,” he said.

It is the third case this month of children from Bihar headed to madrasas in other parts of India being “rescued” and the second such instance in Cuttack.

On Wednesday, Scroll had reported how the Madhya Pradesh railway police claimed to have rescued 163 children but their parents had said the children were headed to madrasas in Karnataka and Maharashtra to study.

On April 1, the Odisha railway police detained a maulana who was travelling with 14 boys from Bihar’s Kishanganj to Odisha’s Salepur. The children had gotten down at Cuttack railway station when the police found them, a policeman told a local news publication.

In this instance too, the 59 children were stopped at Cuttack railway station on April 14. This was part of Operation “Nanhe Faristey”, which the Railway Protection Force carries out to protect vulnerable children and prevent child trafficking.

The children’s parents are too poor to travel to Cuttack and have approached the Araria Child Welfare Committee for help, said Hassan, the advocate for the parents.

Rinku Verma, chairperson of the Araria Child Welfare Committee, confirmed that the children’s parents had reached out on Wednesday. “We have contacted the CWC in Cuttack,” said Verma.

He claimed the maulvi did not have paperwork or transit documents to show that the children had been transferred from a school to a madrasa. “Such a large group of children can attract suspicion and the police acted accordingly,” said Verma.

The Cuttack Child Welfare Committee has sought a letter from the Araria committee confirming the names and details of the 59 children and their purpose of travel. “That process is ongoing,” said Shareef. “Once the letter comes, hopefully the children will be released.”

Mohammed Tanvir Alam’s two sons and a nephew, are among the children who were travelling to Cuttack. Alam had sent his children with his cousin, Aabid, who was dropping his son to the madrassa.

Alam, who is a tractor driver in Raniganj in Araria district, told Scroll that his 14-year-old son Zulfikar had attended the madrasa last year. “This year I decided to send my younger son too,” Alam said.

Alam’s children used to attend a government school in Raniganj. “They would spend more time playing outside instead of studying,” said Alam. “I thought they would learn some discipline in the madrasa.”