Rajasthan teacher's 'Dandi March' for cause of Urdu, madrasa teachers

The march from Churu in Rajasthan to Gujarat’s Dandi – where Mahatma Gandhi broke the salt law in 1930 – was called off midway on Sunday, after government assurances that his demands will be considered. “I got assurance from officials that the state government will look into the demands.

An Urdu teacher in Rajasthan recently set off on a "Dandi March" of his own in a unique protest to seek a better deal for those who teach the language in the state's schools and madrasas. The march from Churu in Rajasthan to Gujarat's Dandi – where Mahatma Gandhi broke the salt law in 1930 – was called off midway on Sunday, after government assurances that his demands will be considered. Thakur Shamsher Bhalu Khan, who is the son of former Congress MLA Bhalu Khan, told PTI that he was accompanied by nearly 40 people during the march and got support from the minority community. Khan, a teacher at government school of Sehjusar in Churu, began his march on November 1. Before entering Gujarat, Rajasthan Waqf Board chairman Khanu Khan Budhwali organised a meeting of the teacher with government officials in Udaipur on Sunday after which he called off the march. "I have nine demands, including the regularisation of madrasa teachers, recruitment of Urdu teachers in schools and the implementation of the PM's 15-point programme for minorities," Khan said on Monday.

Khan said there are nearly 6,000 teachers in madrasas across the state. "I got assurance from officials that the state government will look into the demands. After assurance from them, I called off the agitation and now I am looking forward to meeting the education minister," he said. Khna said he decided to undertake the march to Dandi in order to follow the Gandhian path. "The idea was to give my representation to the statue of Bapu in Dandi after walking for nearly 1,000 km on foot," he said.