Saeed Haider & Abdallah Rizvi Saudi Gazette DAMMAM — The managing committee elections for the International Indian School Dammam is heating up with seven seats up for grabs. The elections, to be held on April 25 under the supervision of the Indian Embassy and the Saudi Ministry of Education, will see nine members vying for the seven seats. Parents of nearly 18,000 schoolchildren will elect the seven members for a three-year tenure, and the elected members will pick the committee chairman for a one-year tenure. Traditionally the member who bags the maximum number of votes is elected chairman. The IISD principal is the chief election commissioner who coordinates with the embassy. Interestingly, there are only nine candidates in the fray. According to reports, in all there were 16 nominations, of which the election commission, after scrutiny, found 10 eligible candidates. One candidate later withdrew. Not much of competition or excitement was visible. But this aggressive shortlisting has left many angry and fuming and some even have cried foul. One of the shortlisted candidates has even approached the Ministry of Human Resources Development in New Delhi. The performance of the managing committee has always been under the scanner of the parents and the community. Some had expressed satisfaction while others voiced their anguish, anger and total disenchantment in the past. There have been reasons for concern. Last year one of the committee members raised issues of alleged corruption and conflict of interest. He even wrote to New Delhi after which there have been two inquires by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh. Findings of the inquires have still not been made public. The list of candidates released by the election commission itself identifies each candidate by his regional affiliation, despite the fact that the school is already infested with regional and linguistic biases. Some members have questioned this and stated, why a candidate could not be identified as Indian? Certainly Indian school elections are not held on the basis of proportional representation and surely shortlisting has been done on the basis of region then why does school itself is fanning regionalism within the community, is the question being raised. Various groups that spring up like mushrooms during the elections period are approaching parents to vote for the member the group is backing. Each is touting a "so-called LIST" whom they want the voters to follow blindly. Parents are in a quandary. These "lists" promote regionalism. They are based on negotiations between various so-called community leaders where each vies for two candidates from his region. Nothing is based on merit or the potential of the candidate. Nothing is based on what the candidate has to offer in terms of his plan for the school. “I was approached by some members of my region and 'told' to vote for the ‘List.' I was shocked and I told them that this is great injustice to our children. We face issues of discipline, quality of teachers, safety but who is bothered?” said Tajammul Hussain, general manager of a local company here. “I will certainly not vote for any list but my vote will be based on my research of the candidate and his ability to deliver,” added Tajammul. Bilal Ahmed, a prominent social worker, is exasperated with the way he has seen the negotiations. “It is as if we are buying goats in the market. No names but only numbers are thrown and discussed with anger and determination. Lists are prepared and those preparing the lists are not even aware of who is in there,” he said. Many members of the Indian community firmly believe that the present election system has become redundant, and should be reformed with a bigger role for the embassy. They quote recent state of IISD as the result of this system. A reformed system with prominent Indian citizens who think and act like Indian and not regional actors, and an expanded role of the embassy could bring back the high repute that once IISD enjoyed, they said.
