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Zambian
Police Free 280 Children from Islamic School
The
Faiz–E–Abrar Islamic Trust School in Lusaka, Zambia,
was raided by the Zambian Police. They found the 280 children
– all males aged between four and 10 years old –
locked up in a warren of cells.
The
children, who were clad in Islamic caps and robes, told
Cabinet Minister, Gladys Nyirongo, (The Minister of Youth,
Sport and Child Development) who accompanied the police,
that they all wanted to leave the Islamic School. The boys
claimed that they had been kept at the school against their
will and that they had been subjected to abuse.
The
children reported that they were not allowed to speak their
home languages in the school – only Arabic. Those who
broke this rule received corporal punishment (beatings)
from their instructors.
Adherence
to Islamic religious rituals was compulsory. Those “who
strayed from the Islamic teachings” were “caged
in small rooms and made to eat food kept in a manhole.”
The children received little academic teaching but were
mainly subjected to Islamic indoctrination.
The
police reported that “four inmates were made to sleep
on a single mattress in a crammed room of 12”.
The
Lusaka police chief Chandela Musonda reported that two foreigners
had been arrested including the Chairman and Director of
the institution who was identified as “Iqbal Patel,
of Asian origin”. The Police investigations of “unlawful
confinement and abuse” were continuing.
Cabinet
Minister Gladys Nyirongo said that “most of the children
were malnourished”. The school had also failed to provide
for sick children. Mrs Nyirongo declared: “We don’t
want to have another Al-Qaeda network in Zambia. This appears
to be a very serious arrangement.”
Parents
had apparently been persuaded to give their children to
the Faiz–E–Abrar Islamic Trust School because
promises that they may receive university education in a
Middle East country if they attained a suitable level of
Islamic Education and fluency in Arabic. There are reportedly
other Islamic schools in Zambia where children are similarly
confined and abused.
Dr.
Peter Hammond
For
related articles Zimbabwe
and Zambia: A tale of two countries & 3 religions
And
MUGABE
CLAMPS DOWN ON PRAYER (See section Zambians protest
against Sudanese Muslims hijacking soccer match)
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