The Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) Prof Talat Ahmad on 27 March asserted that the university bodies will defend its minority character and came down heavily on the self-styled leaders who accused the university administration of mishandling the issue pending before the Delhi High Court.
“I am pained that after relentlessly working for the good of the university for the last four years, some self-styled leaders (of the community) are casting aspersions on our intentions with regard to the minority status of the university. This is not only unfounded but also malafide and is not in the larger interest of the university,” the Vice Chancellor said adding that its minority character will be defended when the matter is taken up for hearing.
Speaking at the first installation ceremony of the newly elected governing council members of the Alumni Association of Jamia Millia Islamia (AAJMI), Prof Ahmad said the university and other respondents in the matter was not served with any advance notice by the Delhi High Court after the Centre submitted a revised affidavit challenging the minority status of the university.
Addressing a large gathering of alumni and JMI officials and students, Prof Ahmad said the university had made remarkable progress in terms of research and raking – Grade ‘A’ in NAAC, 12th among 750 universities in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2017 by MHRD and figures among top 1000 institutions worldwide in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2018, since he took over as Vice Chancellor four years ago. He also said that his endeavour would be to get the “University with Potential for Excellence” to JMI during his tenure. Prof Ahmad said that because of the hard work of his team the financial corpus of the university has registered a 68%increase with the same available resources by plugging unnecessary expenses and judicious use of funds.
The Vice Chancellor, who presented mementos to newly elected AAJMI governing council members, appealed to them to work proactively in contesting the negative propaganda being orchestrated by people having vested interest and work for the betterment of the university.
The function was attended by Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof Shahid Ashraf, Registrar, Mr. A.P. Siddiqui (IPS) and OSD to VC, Prof Sharfuddin Ahmad and Deans of faculties. Prof Moshahid Alam Rizvi, Chairman of Global Jamia Alumni Network, who was returning officer for the conduct of the first AAJMI election, said he was grateful to the Vice Chancellor in taking personal initiative in the formation of the association which he hoped would play a significant role in not only serving the university but also meeting the immediate challenges before the university.
Among those who spoke at the function included AAJMI President Shafa ur Rehman and General Secretary Badre Alam. Prof. Saima Saeed Media Coordinator, JMI