By M. Ghazali Khan
Inna Lillahi-wa-Inna Ilehi Rajioon! Once again an innocent life has been lost. Once again AMU is in the media for the failure of its administration in maintaining law and order and the unruliness of its students.
Imagine the intensity of pain of Mazhar Nadim’s parents and siblings of Mazhar Nadim would be looking forward to celebrating Eid with him but are now receiving his dead body. Instead of new Eid clothes they are now buying shroud for him. The mother who would have dreamt to see her son becoming a dulha is now saying last good bye to him. May the Almighty Allah bless the soul of the deceased and give courage and patience to his parents.
Before Mazhar Nadim we had witnessed two similar tragedies but no lesson has been learnt by anyone.
Students are justified in their anger at this cold blooded murder and lack of security within the campus. But can arson and destruction of university property, closure of the university and the resulting bad publicity in print and electronic media around the world bring the deceased back? Can unbridled violence be helpful in bringing peace and security in the campus?
If the murder of Mazhar Nadim was, as the police seem to be suggesting, the work of outside elements, then obviously the motive of the culprits was certainly to achieve what the university has been engulfed unwittingly by the help of the students. If an outsider attacks a member of our house and, God forbid, harms one of our family members, as has been done in this case, do we try to find out and chase the enemy or burn our house instead?
There is no doubt that maintaining security in the campus is the responsibility of the administration but a place like AMU, administration alone can not perform this role. Without responsible co-operation and participation of every member of the University community peace and tranquility will remain a dream. The problem is that in circumstances like the one we are now facing, strict discipline, stringent measures and quick thinking are a pre-requisite but unfortunately a class known as “the seniors” has always resented and are always the first to violate these rules.
Behind this mindlessness of the students there is a clear divide of we(the students) and they (the staff and the administration). From the news and from acquaintances from AMU one gets the impression that this divide is increasing day by day and there has been no effort to overcome this malaise. Also the damage inflicted by the students on university properties has become a permanent feature of student protest which is yet another proof of students becoming devoid of sense of belonging and love with our heritage. To create a sense of belonging among the students and create a paternal spirit among the staff it is vital that they should be aware of not only the history of sacrifices of our ancestors who built this great institution but also the unselfish struggle of those who paid heavily to save its minority character. One wonders if AMU teaching staff let alone the students have any sense of the history of Aligarh Muslim University.
No matter how much we praise ourselves and Aligarh culture, the fact can not be denied that present university community (there are always exceptions) has largely lost the sense of Aligarh spirit. This spirit finds its way only in our unjustified and uncalled for reactions even to legitimate criticisms and friendly suggestions. By indulging in self-praise, becoming part of dhaba culture and addressing each other as jigar one does not become an Alig. Aligarianship demands self-assessment and self-assessment requires courage and honesty not reactionary outbursts. This spirit can not be revived without fully appreciating the wealth we have in the form of AMU and this appreciation can not come without knowing our history.
In the wake of anti-Irfan Habib movement in 1982, which eventually turned into anti-Sayed Hamid movement, AMU witnessed some of the worse scenes of indiscipline when senior staff members were insulted and abused. Commenting on these incidents the late editor of Radiance and active member of AMU Action Committee Ameenul Hasan Rizvi Sahib told me in his office in Delhi, “Pata nahin kiya ho gaya hai? 1947 mein bhi talba par ek bhoot sawar tha. Us waqt unhon ne bade bade ulema ki baat nahin suni thi magar apne ustadon ke saamne bolne ki majal nahin thi. Ham professor Habib Sahib ke nazaryat ke sakht mukhalif the magar un ke samne bolne ki jurrat nahin kar sakte thhe” (Don’t know what has happened. In 1947 as well, students were in a rage. At that time they did not listen to the advice of respected Islamic scholars but never uttered a word in front of their teachers. We were sternly against Prof. Habib’s views yet we did not have courage to speak in front of him).