12 May 2004	Wednesday	21 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, May 11: Teaching resumed at the Sindh Madressatul Islam on Tuesday as police handed over the possession of the madressah's mosque, hit by a fatal bomb blast on May 7, back to the institutions administration.

The madressah was declared closed after the tragic incident, which claimed lives of 14 people and caused injuries to many other worshippers. At the student's assembly, fateha was offered for the persons killed in the carnage.

In the meantime, it is learnt that the damage rectification works and restoration of the mosque, on Aiwan-i-Tijarat Road, would commence in three or four days.

The attacked Shia mosque was built in 1894 by the rulers of Khairpur state at a cost of Rs5,000, while the other adjacent mosque had already been established for the Sunnis in 1893, with the contributions from Nawab of Junagarh. Two single-storey structures were added diagonally to the two corners of the late nineteenth century building.

The madressah building, completed in 1889 at a cost of Rs0.197 million, employing Gothic architecture, is also among the buildings declared as protected heritage by the Sindh government.

A senior SMI teacher said that two mosques within the premises of madressah had been closed to worshippers coming from outside or neighbourhoods, since after the May 7 blast.

A technical committee of the Karachi Building Control Authority on dangerous buildings, including its secretary Mumtaz Haider, which inspected the building on May 10, in its preliminary report, has stressed the need of repairs at the earliest to save the building from further damage.

While a team of engineers, under the directives of the SMI principal, is in the process of estimating the financial implications and execution of restoration work, some Shia employees of the madressah started cleaning the mosque of blood stains and rubble on Tuesday.

SMI Principal Prof Muhammad Ali Shaikh told Dawn that the restoration works would be executed in phases and completed within two to three weeks time. "First we have to replace the damaged cast-iron pillar of the mosque, and then carry out repairs of walls and woodwork, which would be followed by finishing touches and refurbishing of carpets and rugs for worshippers," he added.

He said that the entry of outsiders to madressah limits and the two mosques had been banned for the time being, in view of repairs and cleanliness works, as well as the prevailing situation. The madressah has also approached the Sindh chief secretary for getting support of Culture, Communication and Works departments for restoration of the mosque.