“If we only remember Sir Syed over a plate of biryani once a year, we miss the essence of his mission. AMU was created to serve the community, and it’s our duty as graduates to stay true to that vision.”
The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) recently celebrated the 207th birth anniversary of its founder, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, a visionary leader known for his contributions to education and social reform. On this occasion, Wali Rahmani, a prominent speaker and recipient of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Award 2024 for Excellence in Education, delivered a compelling message urging the audience to deeply understand the compatibility between science and faith.
During his address, Rahmani challenged the common notion that science and religion are separate, emphasising that the Quran encompasses scientific principles. “To say that one hand holds science and the other the Quran implies that the Quran lacks scientific understanding, which is a misconception,” he stated.
“The Quran isn’t void of science; it contains scientific wisdom. When we speak of education, we must start in the name of Allah. Education divorced from His name isn’t complete.”
Reflecting on Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s legacy, Rahmani highlighted how Sir Syed dedicated his life to the cause of education, building AMU to serve the community. He noted that Sir Syed’s vision extended beyond the establishment of a university; it was about empowering the community through knowledge and service.
“It is essential to remember why leaders like Sir Syed did the work they did,” he remarked, adding, “If we merely commemorate his work without continuing it, we aren’t doing justice to his legacy.”
Rahmani emphasised the need to go beyond token celebrations, stating, “If we only remember Sir Syed over a plate of biryani once a year, we miss the essence of his mission. AMU was created to serve the community, and it’s our duty as graduates to stay true to that vision.”
Expressing his gratitude, Rahmani acknowledged the honour of receiving an award in Sir Syed’s name, though he humbly expressed his doubts about deserving it.
“It’s an honour for my work to be recognised, but I also feel a sense of responsibility,” he shared. “While I cannot force anyone to become like Sir Syed, I can call them towards the truth, towards what is right.”
Rahmani’s words resonated with the audience, reinforcing the values and mission that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan championed – education, community service, and a harmonious integration of science and faith.
source: http://www.radiancenews.com / Radiance News / Home> Pride of the Nation> Awards> Education> Focus / by Radiance News Bureau / October 26th, 2024
‘Between Nation and Community’ cites primary and secondary sources and oral testimonies to understand what India thinks of the two universities.
Bab-e-Sayyad, the entrance to Aligarh Muslim University. | Hhkhan / CC BY-SA 3.0
By sheer serendipity, I happened to begin reading Laurence Gautier’s Between Nation and ‘Community’immediately after TCA Raghavan’s Circles of Freedom, which locates the life and career of the barrister-politician Asaf Ali in the national freedom struggle and probes the challenges of being a moderate Muslim or a nationalist Muslim within the Indian National Congress. Coming close on the heels of Raghavan’s book, I was struck by the opening line of Gautier’s Introduction: “Can a Muslim university be an Indian university?” Clearly, the doubts and apprehensions, the mistrust and suspicion that afflict Indian Muslims similarly afflict Muslim institutions, including universities that Gautier is at pains to clarify at the very outset were “established by Muslim individuals or organisations, primarily – though not exclusively – for Muslim students.”
Between Nation and ‘Community’: Muslim Universities and Indian Politics after Partition, Laurence Gautier, Cambridge University Press.
Having worked briefly at both Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) – a few short months at Aligarh and a few years at Jamia – I can say that there is a Muslimness, an unmistakably Muslim character to both: the time table changes during the month of Ramzan, a long break for the Juma namaz, the presence of several mosques on campus, the opening of academic/formal events with recitations from the Holy Quran, and increasingly the presence of ever more hijab-clad women (this was pointed out by mother who studied at AMU in the 1950s and noted that there were very few women in hijab let alone the full burqa in her time). The question, however, is: Does any of this diminish or detract or take away from the Indianness of these universities or, for that matter, from those who study or work here? That would lead us to the larger question: What is Indianness?
We come back to the question posed by Gautier in her very first line when she goes on to cite Gyanendra Pandey, who has compared Hindu nationalists and nationalist Muslims. Hindus are seen as nationalists by default whereas Muslims are often put to an agni pariksha to prove their nationalist credentials. As Gautier puts it: “Indian Muslims are taken to be primarily Muslims, whatever their political stance might be. Unlike Hindus, their commitment to the nation cannot be taken for granted; it has to be proven, for their Muslimness casts doubt on their Indianness.”
Incidents like Batla House in the Jamia neighbourhood or the anti-CAA protests at both JMI and AMU bolster the argument that these universities are nurseries of disaffected anti-nationalists and prompting a politician to famously declare: “Desh ke gaddaron ko…Goli maaro saalon ko.”
Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia
While there is much to read and reflect on in this richly detailed book that brings together, seamlessly, many primary and secondary sources and oral testimonies, a few things need to be flagged. One is the obvious differences between AMU and JMI, by now both Central Universities though the two have entirely different histories. The reasons and the circumstances behind their establishment and their distinct “historical character” have cast a long shadow on their growth and development. AMU was set up to provide secular, western education to the Muslim qaum in a campus modelled on the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, and to “develop a strong bond with the colonial authorities in order to preserve their access to power”.
JMI on the other hand clearly had different ideas right from its inception: “Hers was a voice of rebellion, one that highlighted the dissonances within the supposedly unified Muslim community.” A splinter group of ardent nationalists, led by Maulana Mohamed Ali, broke away from the MAO College to set up a new kind of educational institution devoted to the service of the nation. In the heady days of the Khilafat Movement and the high noon of Hindu-Muslim unity, Gandhi pledged instant support to this new venture, famously declaring to go begging bowl in hand, if need be, to support this nationalistic enterprise.
It’s interesting to note the different treatments meted out to the two universities immediately after independence, and their vastly different public perception. While AMU was given Central University status in 1951, one among three central universities, Jamia – that had once been famously called the “lusty of the freedom movement” – struggled financially. It seems as though it quite suited the Congress government of the day and Nehru in particular – who had close personal ties with several of Jamia’s teachers and was a frequent visitor – to view the Jamia as a quaint space where visitors such as the Shah of Iran would be shepherded to view its projects and schemes.
Even the cover photograph on Gautier’s book written with immense empathy though it is, perhaps unintentionally, reinforces this quaintness with gamine-faced boys dressed like grown-ups in shervani and Gandhi caps against a building designed by the German architect Karl Heinz. There are other photographs in the Jamia archives showing several eminent people earnestly poring over rough-and-ready hand-made charts and diagrams. Overall, the picture that emerges is that it suited everyone to have this quaint, charming, idealistic venture in one’s backyard as long as it showed no great ambitions to grow into anything bigger or grander.
The Jamia too, I suspect, chose to live in a shell of its own making, hiding its light under a bushel, making a virtue of frugality and simplicity and service. It seemed content to allow the world to view it as a curiosity, a whimsical other-worldly place, a retreat from the mainstream; for some, it was even a recalcitrant child bent upon being odd and different from others, especially its older sibling, the AMU. For far too long, the serious students and the professional scholars stayed away from the Jamia choosing to go to AMU instead.
The differences
The Jamia biradari – a word constantly used by Prof Mushirul Hasan, the most faithful chronicler of Jamia’s history – was a close-knit community. Being small, much smaller than the sprawling AMU campus, Jamia fostered from its earliest days a sense of fellowship among its students and teachers. We get a sense of that in the oral testimonies and memoirs of its teachers and students frequently referred to by Gautier: the annual Jamia Mela, the idea of selfless service (be-laus khidmat) reinforced by teachers often voluntarily taking cuts in their salaries, the emphasis on community service and shram daan, the sense of community living, the devotion of not just staff but their families to the “idea” of Jamia, all of which was fostered by the compactness of the campus. Also, Jamia was more democratic in its functioning than AMU, again possibly due to its size. In this, it drew inspiration from early Islamic society. There are instances of school functions starting punctually on the dot when the chief guest, Vice Chancellor Dr Zakir Hussain, happened to be running late.
Then there was the presence of female students from its earliest days – in classes, in reading rooms, even on stage – with the earliest students being daughters and sisters of Jamia teachers and workers. However, as Gautier points out, this was “primarily out of practical considerations, not out of ideological principles” and Mujeeb, a long-serving Vice Chancellor, recognised it as a valuable project only in hindsight. Whatever the reason, Jamia offered new opportunities for women in its feeder schools, Balak Mata centres, teacher training courses, and adult literacy classes.
The presence of women on campus seen as a threat in AMU with Islamist groups gaining ascendancy, was much less so in JMI in the 1970s and 80s when debates on “proper” and “improper” mingling of the sexes began to gain ground between the “conservatives” and “progressives” and questions about the presence of women, especially in cultural programmes, began to be raised. While present in JMI, too, these voices were muted and not as strident as in AMU.
Then, there is the rather obvious difference of location and how that has impacted the development of the two universities: Jamia’s location in Delhi compared to AMU’s approx 180 km away. While in the early years, AMU was far more cosmopolitan than the mosquito-infested neck of the woods beside the Yamuna that was home to Jamia, from the 1980s a perceptible change became visible. The establishment of a working women’s hostel in 1982 by AJ Kidwai was possible in Jamia primarily due to its location, followed by the MCRC. We see that change accentuated in recent years in the changing profile of both staff and students with Jamiabeing more open to change and AMU becoming more closed, more insular, more inward-looking.
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Book Review / by Rakshanda Jalil / September 29th, 2024
Allama Shibli Nomani was born in Bindol Azamgarh village on June 4, 1857, and passed away on November 18, 1914. He possessed a multifaceted personality and held an esteemed position in various fields. Considering his contributions to knowledge and literature from different perspectives, it is hard to believe that it was the work of a single individual. Besides his contributions to poetry and literature, Allama Shibli Nomani put his indelible mark on history and biography, research and criticism, and education and preaching.
The main focus of Shibli’s academic endeavours was education and religion showing a deep interest in education and educational philosophies. His life was dedicated to the educational activities of his time. From Aligarh Muslim University to Nadwatul Ulama, his sacrifices in the field of education were immense. His vision extended beyond India, encompassing the educational activities and needs of the Islamic world as well.
While he valued traditional education, he was also a proponent of modern sciences. At Nadwatul Ulama, when he was entrusted with educational responsibilities, he included “Al-Durus al-Awliyyah fi al-Falsafah al-Tabi’ah” in the curriculum. This book, written by Christian scholar Allen Jackson and published in Beirut in 1882, was an illustrated text on the basic sciences of its time, covering practical topics such as matter, motion, gravity, liquids, optics, heat, and electricity. Shibli appointed Allama Muhammad Hameed-ud-Deen Farahi and Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa to teach it. This information is derived from Shibli’s letters.
Additionally, in 1901, Shibli hired an English teacher at Nadwatul Ulama with a monthly salary of 15 rupees. This decision led Maulana Abdul Bari Nadvi to translate several modern books on philosophy. The inclusion of English and modern philosophy in the curriculum was a revolutionary step by Shibli. However, after Shibli stepped down in 1913, these subjects were dropped from the curriculum.
Shibli spent his entire life cultivating knowledge and literature. He wrote books, encouraged others to study, and was devoted to the national spirit. Not only did he inspire the youth of the nation towards education, but also guided them in their educational pursuits. The openness of Shibli’s educational ideas is evident from his belief in higher education for women and his support for a curriculum that was equal for both boys and girls. In a letter to Atiya Faizi, he expressed his wish for her to become a speaker and lecturer like other famous women.
In a letter to Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Khan Sharvani, he wrote about the impressive patterns of women’s education he observed in Bombay. Similarly, during his visits to Italy, Egypt, and Syria, he admired the women’s education and training system in Turkey, spontaneously writing words of praise for the Turks. Shibli tirelessly worked for the education and social awareness of Muslim women.
In 1908, when Nawab Bahawalpur’s grandmother donated 50,000 rupees for the construction of Nadwa, Allama Shibli wrote an enthusiastic article in Al-Nadwa. He referred to her as a “Living Zubaida Khatun,” comparing her generosity to that of Zubaida Khatun, Baramakka, and Taimoor. He wrote:
“The generosity of this lady has not only strengthened the foundation of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama but has also paved the way for its future advancements.”
Extraordinary Passion
“O Subah Allahabad, O Oudh, you are a vast and distinguished region, but the truth is that now you must admit that it is not Punjab, but a part of it, that has earned your enduring respect through one of its revered women. You may have produced Burhan-ul-Mulk and Asif-ud-Daulah, but you cannot claim a Zubeda among your ranks.” (Maqalate Shibli, Vol. 8, p. 80)
Shibli’s travelogue “Safarnama-e-Room-o-Misr-o-Sham [Travelogue of Rome and Egypt, Syria] is essentially an educational report. Shibli’s writings reflect the deep passion he had for education and the kind of education he envisioned. His interest was not confined to India; he also kept a keen eye on the educational landscape of the Islamic world. The core of Shibli’s educational mission was the openness and spread of thought. While he respected ancient academic traditions, he was not averse to embracing new knowledge and wisdom. This excerpt from his travelogue is a significant reflection on the integration of modern and ancient educational ideas:
“Education among the Turks began with the Empire, which is what we now remember as ancient education… But the current state of education has declined so much that, in comparison, our education in India seems deteriorated. The realisation of this in the travelogue shattered all my joy and satisfaction — the fallacy of this ancient teaching… The grief and sorrow expressed by the newly educated in our country over the old education is not genuine sorrow, but rather arrogance and disdain. Although I appreciate new education, I am a strong advocate of old education. I believe that old education is necessary and very important for the survival of Muslim nationality.” (Safarnama-e-Room-o-Misr-o-Sham p. 56)
Due to his constant stress on education, Shibli concluded that it would be beneficial to reduce the gap between ancient and modern education and educational institutions, fostering a mutual exchange of benefits. Shibli believed that English education alone cannot address our current challenges, nor can the old style of education fully support us in the present era. In his opinion:
“We have said this again and again, and now we say it once more: it is not enough for us Muslims to only have English madrasas or ancient Arabic madrasas. The remedy for our pain is a combination of Eastern and Western education.” (Maqalate Shibli, Vol. III, P 57)
In his reference to Constantinople, Shibli emphasises that freedom of thought cannot thrive under government control. He also mentions educational institutes in Europe, where the people, rather than the government, play a significant role. He writes:
“What’s even more regrettable is that all the colleges and darul ulooms in Constantinople that I have mentioned are run by the government. The nation has not paid any attention to this yet. That is, there is not a single national college in such a big capital. No government, no matter how powerful and wealthy, can support the educational needs of the entire country. Even if it could, it wouldn’t be useful. The mental and spiritual powers of a nation whose needs are fulfilled by the government become dead and useless.” (P 40)
Shibli writes in his report on the School of Harbiya in Constantinople, after mentioning the happiness of the students, the ethics of the teachers, and the many branches of education:
“In fact, there is no better college in all of Constantinople in terms of building, supply of equipment, knowledge, education, and good management. However, it is regrettable that most of the people studying in its classes are Christians and the number of Muslims is very small.” (P 59)
Shibli’s analysis needs no further comment after mentioning the academic condition of Turkey, its authors, libraries, newspapers, magazines, and the writings of the masters of various arts:
“The fact is that the method of education in the Islamic world has become so degraded that people are not interested in any kind of modern information except for a few textbooks. As a result, the spirit of innovation and invention is lost to the nation, and there is no hope for it as long as this situation remains.” (P 69)
Shibli writes about the ethics of the students of Al-Azhar University:
“Throughout my journey, I was not as disheartened by the plight of Muslims as I was by the conditions at Al-Azhar University… But sadly, it has destroyed millions of Muslims instead of benefiting them… The condition of the students is such that when they buy goods in the market, they swear by ‘Bras Sayyidina al-Husayn,’ meaning they swear by the price of Imam Hussain’s head. Can such trained people be expected to enhance the glory of Islam?” (P 70)
Regarding the curriculum, Shibli writes:
“There is a continuous and basic teaching of fiqh and syntax, each for eight years. Logic, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and other sciences are not included in the teachings. The principles of fiqh, tafsir, hadith, literature, semantics, and narration are taught, but it is done at such a low level that such a large Darul Uloom does not hold any honour in any way.” (P 85)
About the teachers, he writes:
“Sheikh Taban has recently passed away. One of his works has been considered so significant that its annotations and commentaries are included in the curriculum. It is considered a great achievement to understand and memorize this entire series. I asked the students if Sheikh Azhar, who is regarded as a teacher, had done any original work. They proudly said yes, the annotations on Saban’s work are written by him.” (90)
Shibli was constantly active in the educational development of Muslims and did whatever was necessary to achieve this goal. The year 1913 was particularly challenging for him. After Aligarh, Nadwatul Ulama was the only centre of his aspirations, but he had to resign from there. He then dedicated himself to writing biographies. Meanwhile, in the April 15, 1913 issue of the Daily Zamindar Lahore, a proposal by Allama Shibli Nomani regarding the establishment of an Islamic university in Makkah was published. This proposal received many reactions, but Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and some other scholars supported it. Allama Shibli wrote:
“For me, the most important proposal is to establish a university of Islam in Makkah with a high level of education in all religious and worldly sciences (including modern sciences). It is obvious that today all kinds of power are based on knowledge, and in fact, knowledge is the real power. Therefore, nowadays the survival of every nation depends on being proficient in the sciences and arts.” (Ma’arif: November 2013, P 384)
Shibli provided several reasons for the establishment of a university in Makkah. The holy city is a centre of Muslims worldwide, and every Muslim could study there with enthusiasm. He also argued that no other place has as much financial resources as Makkah. If the pilgrims who visit every year were to contribute ten rupees individually to this university, the total amount could reach millions. Shibli also mentioned the presence of a very good library in Makkah. Additionally, he highlighted its pleasant weather conditions; favorable for both teachers and students. Moreover, he pointed out that all the tribes of Arabia, who have been “ignorant for thousands of years,” would benefit from education, with branches of the university being established in their major regions. They would be drawn to knowledge through consistent effort. Shibli concluded by expressing his conviction:
“All I can do is travel all over India for this and then migrate to Makkah and serve this blessed university.” (Zamindar/ April 15, 1913)
Allama Shibli holds a prominent position as a great writer and scholar, with a well-established reputation in this regard. However, less attention has been given to his educational efforts. The reality is that Shibli led a highly active life dedicated to education and educational activities. From his journey from Aligarh to Nadwa, he endured numerous challenges solely for the cause of education. He also faced adverse life circumstances in pursuit of education. If his curriculum reforms had been accepted at that time, the educational landscape today would be completely different. If Nadwatul Ulama had embraced his curriculum a hundred years ago, the madrasas in India today would have a distinct history and glory.
— Dr. Omair Manzar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urdu at Maulana Azad National Urdu University.
This article has been translated from Urdu to English by Mohammad Alamullah with the author’s permission.
source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion India / Home> Clarion Special / by Dr Omair Manzar / translated by Mohammad Alamullah / June 05th, 2024
Master of brevity: Qazi Abdus Sattar at Jashn-e-Rekhta
A votary of India’s syncretic culture, the novelist will be remembered for his sketches of Awadh aristocracy and his prose style which has touches of grandeur
‘Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself; I am large, I contain multitudes’, wrote Walt Whitman in his famous “Song of Myself”. Qazi Abdus Sattar (1933-2018), a novelist, a literary polemist and a master raconteur, who died last week after a long illness, contained multitudes in his fiction and conversation. If grand historical figures jostle with ordinary folks in his fiction, in his conversation he used his right to offend to the maximum. His fiction always touched crests and his conversation knew no troughs.
Beautiful metaphors
A proper assessment of a writer begins after his death, more so in the relatively limited circle of Urdu criticism where everyone knows everyone else. However, most critics and readers of Qazi Abdus Sattar credit him for writing remarkable historical novels, for his sketches of Awadh aristocracy, and above all for his prose style which has touches of grandeur. Among his historical novels “Dara Shikoh” (1968) gives an account of the war of succession among Emperor Shah Jahan’s four sons and Dara’s defeat at the hands of Aurangzeb, using beautiful metaphors and turn of phrases. His epic style characterises the novel. A votary of harmony and India’s syncretic culture, Qazi Abdus Sattar’s sympathies with Dara Shikoh are unmistakable. A scholar of Sanskrit texts, his Dara is often dressed in traditional Hindu attire and he prevails upon his father Emperor Shah Jahan to exempt the Hindu devotees from paying tax for taking bath in river Ganges.
Delineating the bard
His novel “Ghalib”(1976) captures not only the vignettes of Ghalib’s life – his devotion to poetry, his economic worries, his travels, his wit, his love life – but also the ethos and the milieu of the 19th Century.
Qazi Abdus Sattar is equally comfortable in delineating characters from distant Islamic history in novels like “Salahuddin Ayubi” (1968) and “Khalid Bin Waleed”. His novel “Salahuddin Ayubi” takes the reader into the 12th century period of the crusades in which Salahuddin Ayubi distinguished himself for his bravery, his excellent detective work and his love of human beings. Paradoxically the novel also shows that oppression of the weak and the marginalized groups has been an ugly fact of history.
Qazi is both an heir to and critic of landed aristocracy. The taluqdars of Awadh, who are also the concerns of Qurratul Ain Hyder and Attia Hosain, hold some inexplicable fascination for him. They represented a past that he kept living both in his fiction and life. He appeared to welcome the end of Zamindari but he refused to free himself from its sinister charm. He always aligned himself with progressive causes and was a key figure in Janvadi Lekhak Sangh, but he did not see any contradiction in his celebration of the lifestyle associated with an unjust system.
As a fiction writer he is spot on in his treatment of the landed gentry of Awadh. His novel “Shab Guzida”(1966) gives an inside view of the life of zamindars and taluqdars of Awadh. The unjust debauch Bade Sarkar and his virtuous son Jimmy represent different sets of values in the novel. His “Pahla aur Akhiri Khat” (1968) charts a life away from the framework provided by Progressive Writers’ Movement. Through the depiction of the life of Chaudhri Nemat Rasool of Lalpur, the novelist shows zamindars in the grip of economic and social problems after the end of Zamindari. “Hazrat Jaan” and “Tajam Sultan” are his other remarkable works. Unlike many other writers in the past who have made Awadh the subject matter of their work, Qazi’s distinction lies in focusing on the rural life in Awadh in his fiction.
He was equally successful in his novelettes and short stories with Awadh again very much providing the backdrop of many of his narratives. “Peetal ka Ghanta” , a collection of his short fiction, includes ‘Peetal ka Ghanta’, ‘Malkin’, ‘Azu Baji’, and ‘Majju Bhaiya’. “Ghubar-e-Shab”, also set in a village around the period of the Partition, treats the subject of communal disharmony and communal politics with irony.
A Padma Shri awardee, apart from numerous other prestigious awards, Qazi Abdus Sattar worked as professor of Urdu at Aligarh Muslim University and was great friends with scholars and critics of Hindi. He greatly valued his readers in Hindi and stressed the closeness of Hindi and Urdu (even Punjabi). But he was very strongly against changing the script of Urdu. He also strongly believed that literature should be ‘beautiful and wholesome’.
A great fan of Flaubert, he could achieve a lot in very little, thanks to his felicity with language. No wonder he has not written door stoppers and “Ghalib”, all of less than 300 pages, is his longest work.
A raconteur par excellence and not known for mincing his words, he was an interviewer’s dream and an event manager’s guarantee for the success of a literary gathering. Prem Kumar’s remarkable book of his interviews is a blessing for Hindi readers as is Rashid Anwar’s for Urdu readers. Possessed with Oscar Wilde like ability to produce witty (often gossipy) quotes, Qazi Abdus Sattar’s sentences, as Urdu poet Shahryar once said, drew the applause generally reserved for Urdu poets.
The grace and grandeur of his prose style rubbed off on his life. Tariq Chatari, a prominent Urdu short story writer, who believes that Qazi took Urdu afsana to a different level, says that he carried himself very much like a character from his fiction. Qazi Afzal Husain (no relative) considers Qazi a master prose stylist in line with Muhammad Husain Azad and Abul Kalam Azad. Time will tell.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books> Authors> Obituary / by Mohammad Asin Siddiqui / November 09th, 2018
These are times of aggressive nationalism we are living in, said vice chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, Faizan Mustafa, where we have started to consider Mughals not part of the country. Mustafa speaking at the grand 200th bicentenary birth anniversary celebrations of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in Lucknow on Tuesday went ahead to say that Mughals were in fact leaders of the first war of independence of 1857 and were considered so by the likes of Tipu Sultan, Tatya Tope and others.
“Mughals were an integral part of India who could not be fragmented from its soul and now we are here in these times of aggressive nationalism where we are having doubts about them. And this nationalism has not only made us target the Mughals, but also recently there were similar talks about Rabindranath Tagore,” said Mustafa who was the guest of honour at the Sir Syed Day organised by Aligarh Muslim University’s (AMU) Old Boys’ Association. Filmmaker Muzaffar Ali was the chief guest on the day, both of whom being former pupils of the university, recounted their time spent at AMU.
Mustafa also cleared that now when criticising the government is equated to being seditious, it was in 1860 after a fatwa (decree) from clerics at Deoband against the British that the law of sedition as a charge was enacted. Mustafa also exhorted his fellow Aligs (as past pupils of AMU are popularly known) that the dream of Sir Syed has not yet been realised with Muslims lagging in both modern education and securing government jobs.
In his brief speech, Mustafa also touched upon the controversy around AMU’s minority status and said, “People say that the minority status was for the college and with AMU a university, it does not stand now. I researched for this when I had to submit in Allahabad high court as AMU’s stand on the case and I found that when Sir Syed laid the foundation of the madrasa it was the university he had in mind and when he gave his first speech in 1877 when the school was raised to the college level, in front of Lord Lytton he said that one day the college would be a university.
Mustafa also said that blaming Sir Syed for the two nation theory was not just wrong but also absurd. “In several of his recorded speeches, he has identified and defined both Hindus and Muslims as not separate identities but one qaum (community) and one nation. Mustafa considered an authority on law also said that reforms in Muslim personal laws were needed and could only be possible through the ideas of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
ON the day, the AMU Old Boys’ Association and its members that had gathered in the city from different parts of the state passed the resolution to raise demand of Bharat Ratna for Sir Syed and to generate funds for a Sir Syed House in Lucknow to carry on his Aligarh movement of education.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Yusra Hussain / TNN / October 18th, 2017
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan dedicated his life for the Hindu-Muslim unity in the country and worked all his life for the educational upliftment of the community and for the strengthening of a pluralistic society of a modern India. He stressed on making education a medium to transform people into good human beings.
The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) represents the secular Ganga-Jamuna culture and the AMU community is committed to preserve this identity of this great seat of learning. Sir Syed avoided too much emphasis on religious subjects in his writings, focusing instead on promoting modern education.
As we know, the AMU is an academic institution of international importance offering more than 300 courses in both traditional and modern branches of education. Academic excellence and cultural ethos of AMU needs to be projected and propagated worldwide more effectively in a positive way. In the fast changing technological world, the role of media has become very important in disseminating the information to have a maximum reach.The supreme interest of Sir Syed’s life was education in its widest sense. He wanted to create a scientific temperament among the Muslims and to make the modern knowledge of science available to them. He championed the cause of modern education at a time when all the Indians in general and Indian Muslims in particular considered it a sin to get modern education and that too through English language. He began establishing schools, at Muradabad in 1858 and Ghazipur in 1863.
A more ambitious undertaking was the foundation of the Scientific Society, which published translations of many educational texts and issued a bilingual journal in Urdu and English. It was for the use of all citizens; they were jointly operated by the Hindus and Muslims. In the late 1860s, there occurred some developments that were challenges to his activities.
In 1867, he was transferred to Varanasi, a city on the Ganga with great religious significance for Hindus. At about the same time, a movement started in the city to replace Urdu, the language spoken by the Muslims, with Hindi. This movement and the attempts to substitute Hindi for Urdu publications of the Scientific Society convinced Syed that he should do something.
Thus during a visit to England (1869-70), he prepared plans for a great educational institution — a “Muslim Cambridge.” On his return, he set up a committee for the purpose and also started an influential journal, Tahzib al-Akhlaq (Social Reform), for the uplift and reforms of the Muslims. A Muslim school was established at Aligarh in May 1875, and after his retirement in 1876, Sir Syed dedicated himself to make it a college.
To carry the legacy of the great reformer, the AMU has got a dynamic and intellectual person as vice chancellor in the form of Prof Tariq Mansoor, who had been associated with the university for more than three decades. Mansoor has been the principal of the J N Medical College since 2013. He had been the secretary of the University Games Committee for about seven years.
Besides being the president of the Association of Surgeons, he has been a member of the Medical Council of India (MCI) since 2015 and that of the AMU Executive Council for 12 years. Mansoor is a recipient of the senior surgical award from the Association of Surgeons of India. He is also given credit for the overall development of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College. He served as an advisor in the Union Public Service Commission and as an assessor for the MCI.
Mansoor, in his vision, posted on the University’s website clearly stated that he will implement “Sir Syed’s vision of imparting modern education and will be focusing on “preparing students to qualify in competitive exams for central services, armed forces, IITs, IIMs and leading industries. We will also aim to produce top professionals in medicine, engineering, law, management, sciences and humanities”.
Appeal to alumniIt is unique and very positive to have a team of highly intellectual and academicians of repute to run the University. It is important for the progress of an academic institution that it should run by the academicians of high repute.
In an open letter to the AMU alumni who are holding important positions in different organisations worldwide, the vice chancellor has made an appeal to them to contribute both academically and financially.
To me, this is a very good move and initiative that will certainly help the students in getting employment in national and international market. Alumni support will also help in developing the infrastructural facilities of high standard as we have seen the contribution by Frank Islam, an AMU alumnus based in the US.The way newly appointed vice chancellor has taken the initiatives so far clearly shows his vision and plan for the betterment of the university. However, it would be more interesting to see his efforts in days to come. His biggest challenge would be maintaining the law and order situation in the campus. His long association with AMU would certainly be helpful in understanding the dynamics of the campus and in maintaining the law and order situation.
However, I would suggest that the VC should have an IPS officer on deputation basis as proctor of the University with power to handle the law and order situation independently. Another issue he may face would be regionalism and groupism in the campus but I am happy to mention that he already stated clearly in his vision that he will eliminate factionalism and groupism from the campus. It is high time for the AMU community to support the vice chancellor in making the University as one of the best in the country.
(The writer, a linguist, teaches at Washington University in St Louis, USA)
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Panorama / by M.J. Warsi / July 03rd, 2017
