Bihar Sharif: The 113-year-old India library torched in a riot

A 113-year-old madrassa collection in India that once housed more than 4,500 publications, including ancient manuscripts and spiritual Islamic texts written in lovely handwriting, is now reduced to ashes, soot-stained walls, burned furniture, and charred pages.

A sizable mob set fire to the library on March 31. The collection was a part of the Madrassa Azizia, an illustrious religious institution in Bihar Sharif town, in the state’s’s eastern region.

the location of the event during the Hindu event of Ram Navami. Locals told the BBC that the protesters attacked the madrassa while shouting controversial mantras and carrying sticks, stones, and gasoline bombs.

The event was just one of many that happened in the city that day; many people were hurt, and some businesses and vehicles were attacked. In connection with the widespread murder, authorities have detained a number of individuals, and an investigation is ongoing.

Witnesses claimed that hundreds of people broke the madrassa’s’s back door and doors before vandalizing it. Some people threw gasoline weapons inside the library and rooms, setting them on fire.

A madrassa kitchen named Abdul Gaffar remarked,” Dead I could feel smoke.” ” I noticed there was a lot of chaos close to the work when I opened the door. The crowd had also moved in the direction of the hostelry. I hid under the mattress out of fear.

The collection was completely destroyed by the fire, along with 250 written books, historic records, and antique furniture.

The majority of the library’s’s users were the madrassa individuals. Here, 500 individuals attend classes, and 100 of them stay in dorms. However, they were not present because Ramadan had caused class to be suspended.

” The harm done to the structure and the equipment can make repaired.” Syed Saifuddin Firdausi, an Islamist professor who serves as chairman of the Soghara Trust that oversees the madrassa, asserts that the loss of knowledge and intellectual history is permanent.

According to him, the tower was also the target of a 2017 attack, which prompted police to provide year-long safety.

In honor of her late father, Abdul Aziz, a woman by the name of Bibi Soghara constructed the madrassa. In 1896, it was previously constructed in Patna City before being moved to Bihar Sharif.

Additionally, Bibi Soghara donated her house to generosity, including 14,000 acres of land. To ensure that the money was used to help the poor, she established a confidence.

The faith used the funds to construct clinics, hostels, schools, colleges, and other institutions that are still in use today throughout Bihar.

Bibi Soghara is described by Mr. Firdausi as an” intelligent, socially conscious, and good lady” who opted to donate her property to the community and the nation rather than her family.

Her charitable deeds, carried out more than a century later, continue to benefit the people of Bihar Sharif. According to Dr. Mukhtar Ul Haq, a coach of the Soghara Trust, money from the trust was used to construct an inpatient treatment center last year. Suddenly, a doctor bearing her name will open.

Even though the library’s’s components are beyond repair, trust authorities are now looking for ways to repair the madrassa, whose courses are scheduled to resume on May 1st.

The trust estimates that it will cost more than 30 million rupees($ 365, 088,$ 294, 306 ) to fix the significant damages. They now intend to submit a report to the public welfare division of the state government asking for financial assistance.

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