It was not Sir Syed’s Dream

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Published on

June 13, 2022

Sir Syed’s legacy was thrown down to burn after the brutal murder of a student in the night of September 16. Thousands of students roamed throughout the campus of AMU. Buildings such as V.C Lodge, Staff Club and the Proctor’s office were ransacked, damaged and even some of the portion of these buildings burnt. Trouble makers ruled the streets of the campus throughout the night disregarding even the sacredness of the Ramadhan. Fortunately the Vice-Chancellor declared closure sine-die of the university and the orders were issued to vacate the hostels. The decision was most painful but it was the only way left out to override evil elements and cleanse the campus.

Few educational institutions have had such an important role in the social and political life of the country as Aligarh Muslim University. And unfortunately no educational institution has been the object of so much malicious malignancy as this seat of learning established by doyen of educational reforms Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. AMU has never been a mere educational institution; Sir Syed never wished it to be like an ordinary institution. He wanted it to be a seat of learning and culture of international importance. But what is happening at AMU today is far from the dreams of Sir Syed. Those who believe that AMU is the flag bearer of Muslim aspirations should analyse the whole situation. They must break their dead silence.

The present Vice-Chancellor P.K Abdul Azis took charge after the resignation of Mr. Naseem Ahmad in the same circumstances which are engulfing AMU today. On April 25, 2007 a student of B.Tech was shot dead throwing the campus on flames. The then VC fled and resigned from Delhi in a very unfortunate way. When P.K Abdul Azis took over, he was determined to bring back the functioning of the university on rails. He introduced several reforms in the academic and administrative matters. His first act was to appoint??? a “committee” for suggesting ways to improve the image of the institution on international radar. He laid emphasis on raising the standards of the research projects and made it clear that you either publish or perish. Silent majority of the students and teachers appreciated the steps taken by the Vice- Chancellor but some elements representing some lobbies never lent a helping hand to Prof. Azis. It should be reminded here that Prof. Azis secured here 104 votes in the meeting of the AMU court which was a record itself. Naturally those who lost were bent upon road-blocking him.

For the last six months a sort of serial killings of innocent students are taking place. Common students have lost confidence in the administration. They are worried about their future. A sense of fear psychosis is prevailing among them. In this socio-physiological atmosphere, any incident may send them to a bursting point. Unfortunately innocent sentiments of the students get exploited by those who regard politics and postings more important than serving the institution and carry on the Aligarh Movement.

AMU is not ailing; it is being ailed. We are at a critical time in the history of this great institution in ways we did not expect. We face a ruthless enemy from within intent on destroying the whole Aligarh Movement. The Vice- Chancellor Prof. P.K Abdul Azis has done a commendable job. He should be supported by all concerned. Media has a big responsibility to back the Vice-Chancellor so that he may cleanse the campus because the campus we have today was not Sir Syed’s dreams.