Bhatkalis display fervor at IIS Dammam Elections

Dammam - Bhatkali parents participated in the election process of International Indian School Dammam held on 26th April 2012, by exercising their right to decide on the fate of seven candidates to the managing Committee. Earlier on 24thApril 2012, a meet was organized by Mr. Yunus kazia which was attended by parents from Bhatkal and surrounding areas like Murdeshwar, Byndoor, Basrur etc. to have a joint stand of the community.

The program started with recitation of Quraan by Mr. Arfat Askeri was presided by Dr. Zarrar Ikkeri. Initially Mr. Pilloor Sadiq gave an introduction of Bhatkal town to the seven contestants that represented Bhatkali. Arshad Kadli introduced the educational institutes of Bhatkal and recalled the selfless services of its founders. He stressed the contestants to emulate the sacrifices of these noble souls and serve the community irrespective of the outcome of the elections.

Each candidate were given around 10 minutes to express their thoughts and Dr. Zarrar give his feedback on each candidates before calling the next candidate. At the end he stressed that there is need to give attention to improvement of morals and ethics in the school.

Yunus Kazia kindled the minds of all those present with his inspiring words. The function that was held in Kababish Restaurant concluded after the Dinner.

The elections produced a number of pleasant and worrisome surprises.Despite a high-decibel campaign -- or maybe because of it -- only 36 percent of the parents actually voted. Of 7,550 eligible voters, only 2,759 actually bothered to participate in the electoral process, meaning more than 60 percent of parents chose not to be involved. However large number of Bhatkalis excercised their franchise this time.

The voting percentage was better than the last elections in 2008. Then, there was only a 25 percent turnout; however, this time a very high voter turnout was both anticipated and expected. And the voting percentage did increase but it fell far short of the 50 percent mark.

Despite having a substantial presence in the school, none of the five genuine candidates from Andhra Pradesh could win a seat on the seven-member committee. The winner, Hakeem Mahaboob Dowla, is only technically from Andhra Pradesh, being actually from Karnataka.

The other major surprise was that the man who came first, having gained the highest number of votes, is not from Kerala. He is K.M. Thirunavukkarasu from Tamil Nadu who received 1,654 votes.

Gujarat and Bihar, both of which have fewer students at the school than Uttar Pradesh, won handsomely. Haradwala Mohammed Farooque from Gujarat came second with 1,624 votes and Dr. Khurshid Anwer from Bihar came third with 1,548 votes.

Both candidates from Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Javed Hafeez (679 votes) and Hasnain Mohammed Akhtar (1,042 votes), lost. This is Akhter's second straight defeat. Hafeez was among the prominent candidates because of his being an academic with a doctorate from Aligarh Muslim University.

Abdulla Manjeri from Kerala came fourth with 1,302 votes. Such was the hype built around him and because he was on every possible list of panels, everyone expected him to be the highest vote-getter. He wasn't. His victory, though, was always a foregone conclusion.

At No. 5 was Dr. Shamshad Ahmed from Delhi. He got 1,213 votes. An associate professor at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, he was a leading member of the previous committee. He is the only academic to have won in an election that ironically saw the defeat of two leading researchers, Mohammed Abdul Waris (948 votes) and Nazeer Mohammed Zahid (650 votes), both from KFUPM.

Raju Kurian from Kerala came sixth with 1,131 votes while Hakeem Dowla got 1,091 votes to become the seventh member of the committee.

Among the other losers were R. Sunil Mohammad (from Kerala; 1,082 votes); Ravi Radhakrishna Murthy (from Andhra Pradesh; 944 votes); Mohammad Omer Zaman Khan (from Andhra Pradesh; 939 votes); Syed Qaiser Ali (from Bihar; 863 votes); Mohammed Zulfeqar (from Bihar; 424 votes); Mohammed Moizuddin (from Andhra Pradesh; 325 votes) and Abdul Hai Munawar (from Andhra Pradesh; 290 votes).

Mr. Yunus Kazia expressed his satisfaction on the election of Dr. Khurshid Anwer and Mr. Dowla. He said it was the first time we participated in an organized way and we can definitely improve it next time. He said it was satisfactory to note that the three runner-ups (securing 8th9thand 10thpositions) are all Bhatkali backed candidates.

The elections had all the flavor of the real contest that Indians witness in their home country every five years. There was an army of volunteers at work at the polling center at IISD Boys Section in Al-Raka District cajoling and prodding the incoming voters to cast votes in favor of the preferred candidates. These volunteers were wearing all kinds of caps giving the whole scene a dash of color. They were thrusting lists of candidates into the hands of prospective voters just as the "shabab" thrust cell phone numbers into the handbags of women at supermarkets.

All the leading lights of the community and the candidates themselves were present in an air-conditioned tent set up at the school's playground. Inside the polling center, Principal E.K. Mohammed Shaffe, Ministry of Education's Senior Supervisor Mubarak Bubshait and Indian Embassy's Ashok Warrier kept a close eye on the whole process. Elections were free and fair, and there were no complaints from any quarter about any wrongdoing.

"I am happy at the way the whole exercise has been conducted," Bubshait told Arab News. He congratulated the Indian community on having maintained the tradition of electing their school committee.

Warrier felt the increased number of voters indicated a greater awareness among the parents about the electoral process. "It shows their concern for the institution, and this is a welcome sign."

Principal Shaffe said he is ready to work with the new committee. "Elections are behind us and now we expect to work with members of the new committee on a number of issues concerning the school," he said.

The new members will meet in a week's time to elect a chairman from among them. There is a precedent that the highest vote-getter becomes chairman, but this is not a hard and fast rule. If four of the seven members repose confidence in any member of the committee then that person will go on to become chairman.

Bhatkallys News Service / Arshad Hasan Kadli