Police visit FAT run schools in Kashmir amid row over official order

August 23, 2025 by News Desk

Suhail Dar

On Saturday morning, teams of Jammu Kashmir Police reached several schools across the Valley, triggering fresh controversy as officials claimed the institutions were linked to the Falah-e-Aam Trust (FAT), which they allege functions as an affiliate of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami.

FAT chairman Ghulam Nabi Dar has refuted the association with Jamaat e Islami, saying, “We are not Jamaat; we are running schools where thousands of children are receiving education, and dragging us into politics is unfair,” even as authorities maintained that FAT remains under the scanner for its alleged connections to the proscribed organisation.

The move has triggered a political and administrative controversy, with Education Minister Sakina Itoo distancing herself from the language of the order issued by the School Education Department (SED).

Soon after the SED directed all Deputy Commissioners and District Magistrates to assume management of these schools, Itoo said her own directive was misrepresented.

According to her, she had only suggested that principals of nearby government schools temporarily manage the institutions for three months, as their managing committees had expired.

“These schools were facing registration issues and the future of over 51,000 students was at stake. I had mentioned that principals of nearest government schools will look after them until fresh committees are constituted,” she said, alleging that the order issued by the department “was not exactly what I had written.”

The official order, however, paints a more severe picture. Secretary SED Ram Niwas Sharma stated that intelligence agencies had reported adversely on 215 schools “directly or indirectly affiliated” with JeI and FAT. He invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, noting that the Centre banned JeI in 2019 and again in 2024, while FAT was declared unlawful in 1990 and 2019.

“In order to safeguard the academic future of the students… it is ordered that the Managing Committee of 215 schools shall be taken over by District Magistrate and Deputy Commissioner concerned,” the order reads. Sharma further directed the officials to ensure continuity of education “as per NEP norms.”

The contradictory narratives have already drawn sharp political responses. People’s Conference chairman and MLA Handwara Sajad Lone accused the Omar Abdullah-led government of being “a party to all acts undertaken.”

“The elected government has passed the order. Shame and shamelessness have assumed new meanings in this government. They are setting new standards in servility,” Lone posted on X, alleging the NC-led dispensation was equally complicit in actions against employees, institutions, and now schools.

This is not the first time FAT schools have come under the government’s scanner. In June 2022, the administration ordered a halt to their functioning and directed around 11,000 students to shift to nearby government institutions. FAT, registered in 1972, was originally established by Jamaat-e-Islami, though its leadership has long claimed to be an independent educational trust.

With Saturday’s police presence in multiple schools, the standoff between the minister’s explanation and the bureaucratic order has deepened, leaving thousands of parents and students uncertain about the future of their education.