Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir government has directed cessation of academic activities at schools run by Falah-e-Aam (FAT), a trust set up by the now banned Jamaat-e-Islami.
FAT presently runs around 300 middle and high schools in Kashmir. FAT management claims that over 50,000 students are presently enrolled in these schools.
J&K government has directed Chief Education officers to seal all these FAT schools within 15 days in consultation with district administration and also asked students to enroll in nearby government schools for the current session.
“All CEOs, principals and zonal education officers shall facilitate the admission of these students,” the government order read.
The order said that no new admissions shall be taken in these banned FAT institutions and also no further registration of these schools should be done.
In February 2019, the Union Home Ministry banned Jamaat. Around the same time, magistrates had issued notices to schools run by the FAT asking them to close down. However, the government later said that these schools would not be closed down.
In 1990, the then Governor administration had banned Jamaat, it had also banned FAT. Thousands of FAT teachers were absorbed in government services after that ban. FAT went to court and the ban was overturned.
