"The clouds of ignorance can be burnt away by the light of literacy" - Sameer Afaque Ahmed

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1. Tell us more about yourself and your life?

Bismillah Hir Rahman Nir Raheem. 

To begin with, I am Sameer Afaque Ahmed. I belong from a middle class family from Hapur western part of Uttar Pradesh. We moved to Delhi in 1999. I have done my graduation and post graduation from Jamia Milia Islamia and B.Ed and M.Ed from Al Falah University. As for future plans I am planning for my major in education from Australia. 

Currently I am running a primary school in Delhi named as ''The Kite Paper School'' and its my honor to be a founding member of Hadaf Foundation which deals with the upliftment of underprivileged education and public health system. I have always wanted to do something which makes me happy and provides me with inner peace and contentment and I have a strong belief that education is the medium to achieve big changes in the society as it leads to a allround develpment of a individual as well as a society. Being one of the reason I had setup my school. I have also been quite active in social activism , in the year around 2013 during the election times we got to know how certain downtrodden, poverty stricken and unaware people in our society didn't knew about their voting rights. So during that time me and my organisation worked tiredlessly to make those sections aware about their rights and we also helped those who didn't had their voting cards, Aadhar cards and passports and provided them the facilites to get them.

Even currently before the lockdown there were 6 Aadhar card centers that were set up in my school and since lockdown began after the Janta Curfew on 22nd of March, my school has been working as a Hunger Relief Centre where we have been providing around 1400 needy beings with nutritious meals on a daily basis. Thus through the medium of my individuality in the up coming times I wish to serve humanity more as possible to my fullest capacity.

2. What led you into social activism?

Well there are many causes I can highlight behind my interest in social activism. I have observed something around myself and in my family only and I think most people can relate with is that everyone of us has a different thought process. There are certain ideologies that have been instilled in our society since very long times but that doesn't mean these are right as an instance, male dominant society is a long driven ideology even after having certain bad criterions, it is a deep rooted ideology accepted by majority all over the world but that doesn't make it any much right. 

Certain ideologies have their roots so deep that they cant be dissolved in just a day as those came and developed and were accepted over a long period of time but still those not being right. There is a need to tackle those ideologies to make way for a better society, social activism is one such strong tool to tackle such ideologies. It lays emphasis on a constant, gradual effort towards the ultimate goal through the medium of right awareness thus settling into the minds of the society by shunning away ignorance and helping them reach the light of righteousness and truth.

3. What is that one cause that you deeply care about and why?

There are many such causes which move me and I wanna work on. But one major cause that keeps me awake in the nights and I deeply feel about is a strong emphasis on education, literacy and awareness of the masses. I have already shared my view point on how education is important in one of the earlier questions. I would like to go in detail as to what I feel is that ignorance is the darkness that creates chaos in a persons life and is also a major set back for a society.

Many of the problems that our modern day world is currently facing is a direct consequence of such mass ignorance. Just as every door has a key, same way the clouds of ignorance can be burnt away by the light of literacy and awareness through education. It is a fact that an aware and educated human is less likely to be the harbinger of chaos and problems in a society. Right education helps people in becoming an asset to the society leading to the overall development of a nation but it also makes a person more aware about their own self and individuality. Education makes people aware about their basic human rights and the rights provided to them by the government thus they are properly able to take benefits of these rights and nobody can misuse their rights. Adding to this a well aware and educated person is a boon for themselves and the society but is also better at judging right from wrong and make well thought and learnt choices


4. If one wants to contribute and make a difference in social causes, how can one do it?

As a old saying by the Father of our Nation Gandhiji goes that 'be the change you want to see in the world'. Thus to bring about a change in social causes what I think is firstly we have to bring that change in ourselves. Only then, step by step we can bring about those changes in the society at large.

To elaborate on this further, if I have to bring about the change in the discrimination against women then firstly I will have to apply that change to my own self. First, I can create a sense of equality in my mind and then bring out and voice out my thoughts around me in my surroundings by talking to my close people knowing their thoughts on the matter and making them aware and enlightened on the aforementioned issues. Thus when that seed has been planted righteously then it can be grown with constant gradual effort with belief in the issue into a deep-rooted tree of equality. Also as charity begins at home so start around you in your own surroundings and one step at a time you will be able to achieve your goal.


5. Who is your role model and why?

Over the period of my life many great personalities have inspired me but the ones that I consider my role model are Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh.

When the Phule couple had started teaching the lower castes, especially women, they were asked to either stop the practice or leave their home. The couple decided to leave their home and were then given a place to live by Fatima and her brother, Usman Sheikh in their own house. The opposition that Jotiba and Savitribai faced, became even more enhanced for Fatima. She helped Savitribai set up their first girls’ school called “Indigenous Library”, in her own house. She was going against both, the upper caste Hindus as well the orthodox Muslims. Both these groups were extremely apprehensive about a universal access to education, something that was till then only a privilege of the upper caste men. But defying all norms, Fatima and Savitribai set up the school and even went to a training institute, to become professional teachers.

The courage, dedication and zeal these two great women showed at a time when women were looked as a low section of society  were extraordinary. Their fighting spirit to achieve the truth and educational rights for women at that time, eventually helped women gain a right position in society will always continue to be my inspiration and the force that will keep me going thus they are my role models.


6. What are some of challenges and roadblocks you have faced along your journey?

Well its rightly said that the path to truth is full of obstacles but eventually is worth it.

In a society where the people are drunk with power and benefit from the ignorance of the people, its no secret that I had to also face many obstacles on my way. To shed light on a few, when you try to do something right and are on the right track, many people come your way who do not see the goodness of your efforts but also cannot see you succeed. So they try to pull your legs. 

Working as a NGO, my team is not associated with any political party. Still a lot of the political games we were made a part of it. As a result, those people were scared as to what would happen if one day we came in the politics. So a lot of tactics were used against us to stop our progress. Even the loopholes of law and order were used against us. 

To site a incident a lot of police personnel had told us that our center for hunger relief was applying social distancing at the best measures in the current pandemic situation, but even after that some politically strong people sent some police force our way as to warn and scare us. It was told that "Centre for Hunger Relief" would be shifted from our school. The reason being, lack in following of social distancing norms, but we handled that calmly and I've learnt to look away from negativity and focus only on the positivity.


7. Your opinion about social media activism?


Social media has proven to be both a boon and a bane for our society. It depends on a person's use of it. I myself have used my social media to spread inspiration and motivate people to come forward to help those who are in need, but still negativity and insecurity being a part of social media I've faced a lot of backlash by certain people citing that I've been doing all this to show off or for my own political gain, which for some time led me to depression and effected my mental health. But thanks to my friends and family, who supported me and made me realise that no matter how much good you do, some people will always find flaws in that, yet we still have to be genuine to our cause. I did exactly what they said and I started ignoring the backlashes and focused only on positive feedbacks. 

I think by showing your good you are not showing off but inspiring others to do and feel good.


- Sameer Afaque Ahmed

Interview by - Haseeb Haroon