Colleagues of Islamic scholar Ashmeed Choate, one of the persons served with a detention order by National Security Minister John Sandy, claim he is so compassionate about life he would not even kill an ant.Choate, 56, of Craignish Village, Princes Town, operates the Darul Qur'an Wal Hadith Islamic school in Freeport.Yesterday, his colleagues expressed shock and surprise at his detention.They said Choate, who opened the school in 2003, had never been involved in any illicit activities and did not have a criminal record.The school has an enrolment of more than 100, from kindergarten to CXC levels, and a staff 11 teachers.
There are concerns about the future of the school, now that its founder has been incarcerated. A senior teacher told the T&T Guardian that the school had a full turnout of students yesterday."He is compassionate man and easy to approach," the teacher said."Right now we are in shock because we know that this is a malicious lie...He is like a father to us."What our own husbands did not do for us, he did," said the woman, who was dressed in a burka which covered her face and body.She explained that Choate spent most of his time at the private Islamic school.
"He comes in here from 6.30 and stays until 2 pm," she said."He does not travel abroad...He did some studies in Saudi Arabia but he is no terrorist or killer."She added that Choate always taught his pupils to preserve life."He says whatever have life, you leave it alone," she said."He insisted to the students not to kill the ants in the school...This is why we are so baffled that the police arrested him."Another teacher, who said she was a Seventh-Day Adventist, said she had spent time with Choate discussing the differences between Christianity and Islam.She added that Choate worked at the Moruga Secondary School before he decided to open his own private school.
The institution has no funding from the Government and students are registered for the SEA and CXC exams privately.The teachers said the Ministry of Education curriculum was followed rigidly, although pupils were also exposed to Islamic studies."The focus here is academics but we also teach the children basic morals and values to help them with life," a teacher said.Choate's grandfather started the popular Ali's Doubles at Craignish and operated a variety store in Princes Town.Before opening the school, Choate studied in Saudi Arabia.