Sir Syed’s vision of a nation was one of the earliest expressions of an idea of India which includes all its inhabitants without distinctions on the basis of religion, caste or race, said Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik while delivering the Sir Syed Day commemoration address as the chief guest on Saturday.
Addressing AMU students in a virtual mode, he said, “You are the true realisation of Sir Syed’s dream as you are serving the nation with the true spirit of the ideals of Sir Syed.”
‘Example in healthcare’
Speaking in Hindustani, he stressed, “We are living in a challenging times due to the pandemic, but it is heartening to see that AMU rose to the occasion with full potential for serving humanity as its Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital has set an example for the nation by leaving no stone unturned in the healthcare of the patients.”
Describing AMU as a “historical and heritage institution”, Mr. Malik said it was a “common desire” of the nation that the university continues to “lead the country in providing quality education”. He said it was “our collective responsibility to provide full support for the welfare of this institution of prominence.”
Reminiscing the days when he represented Aligarh constituency as a Member of Parliament from 1989 to 1991 (on a Janata Dal ticket) and AMU Court simultaneously, he said that AMU became very dear to him.
He recalled that AMU faculty members, including eminent poet and lyricist late Prof. Shahryar, and the students had campaigned for him when he contested the Lok Sabha election. He claimed Prof. Irfan Habib and Prof. Shahryar distributed his voter identity slips.
The seasoned politician, who is seen as a rare socialist in the ruling dispensation, said one of the reasons he was appointed the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir was his stint as the MP of Aligarh. Mr. Malik, who was the Governor of J &K when Article 370 was revoked in August 2019, also spoke about the cooperation and help he received from AMU Vice-Chancellor Tariq Mansoor in convincing the Kashmiri students to stay at AMU and not to return home during the tense period.
International category
Receiving the Sir Syed Excellence Award in the international category, eminent historian Dr. Gail Minault, Professor Emerita, Department of History, The University of Texas at Austin, US, discussed her research on the Khilafat Movement and how important it was for her not to rely just on British sources and find out what the Ali Brothers, and Abdul Bari Firangi Mahali, and Maulana Azad were writing, thinking, and saying.
Dr. Minault spoke about the help she received in her research from the families and descendants of the founders of schools, and the editors and publishers of Urdu journals, especially the family of Shaikh Abdullah of Aligarh, founder of Aligarh Girls’ School, which later became Aligarh Women’s College.
She made a special mention of Mumtaz Jahan Haidar, who was for many years the Principal of the Women’s College.
Anjuman-I-Islam, a Mumbai based educational conglomerate, was awarded Sir Syed Excellence Award in the national category.
In the welcome address, Prof. Mansoor said that Sir Syed brought about the great revolution that transformed the Indian society in all walks of life.
Later in the day, AMU Chancellor Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin inaugurated the Centenary Gate at the northern side of the AMU campus in virtual mode. The V-C, on behalf of the Executive Council, has named it ‘Centenary Gate’ and the name in Urdu has been inscribed on it.
