Aluva: In the run-up to appearing for the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) and reaching their designated test venue in time, many students and parents had to arrive at their test centres the previous night, or early in the morning.
Rising to the occasion, mosques in some places doubled as inns for them, thereby becoming a rare display of religious amity. This offered welcome relief to numerous students and their parents, especially when the venue was in places without much infrastructure close to the institutions.
Examples of this were the Malayankad Wadi Hira Masjid and the campus masjid in Azharul Uloom College Chalakkal both in Ernakulam district which offered them facilities to take rest and for their call of nature, regardless of their religion.
There were over 1500 students who arrived from far off places including Tamil Nadu for test at Thottumukham Sivagiri School and Amal Public School at Chalakkal, both cut off from urban amenities. Students and their escorts therefore had to arrive very early in the morning and badly needed a place to unbend themselves or answer call of nature. So both the masjids were opened to them.
The school had informed Wadi Hira Islamic Trust in advance, who responded to the need with required facilities in the mosque, including fan and seating in the hall and in the upper floor under sheet roof. When these places overflowed, place was offered even inside the mosque. The temporary occupants were also offered soft drinks. Those who had arrived Saturday night were also provided with facility to sleep overnight.
Last year, a similar crowd had turned up, but since there was no advance information, the mosque officials could not cope up. Still they became a model by providing the guests with space for rest and refreshments.
This time, workers of KSU, Fraternity Movement and Welfare Party volunteered service to facilitate the make-shift amenities. Those who turned up for test at Amal Public School took rest at the mosque of Azharul Uloom College, Chalakkal. Some parents were gratified that in the spiritual atmosphere of the mosque their wards were able to sit in prayer.