By Jasim Mohammad
As a result of hectic campaign launched by a section of the AMU Biradari including this writer, the AMU court in its meeting portrayed its choice of an academician as the Vice-Chancellor of AMU, Prof. P.K. Abdul Azis, Vice-Chancellor of the Cochin Engg. & Technology University, Kerala secured 104 votes out of total 111 votes breaking the cycle of bureaucrats capturing the Vice-Chancellorship of the AMU. Prof. Azis took the charge on 11 June 2007 and at once embarked upon setting the things within the campus.
Just after joining, he paid a visit to the old buildings of the University and prepared a blueprint to preserve them as heritage buildings. He is the first Vice-Chancellor who paid attention towards them and demanded Rs.100 crore from central government to keep them. He specially took care of the living conditions in the hostels and tried to improve the quality of the food served in the dinning halls.
When he was busy in clearing the campus, suddenly elements who were being adversely affected by his zeal, became active. A false claim of rape in the Abdullah Hall ripped apart the peace of the campus. Just after that a student Mazhar Nayeem was murdered in the night of 16 Sept. 07. As this was the third murder in the campus, the students became agitated. Elements opposed to the Vice-Chancellor’s drive again became active and in the night of 17 Sept. 2007 arson, looting and vandalism was initiated at a scale which was never seen in the history of the AMU. Prime buildings such as the Vice-Chancellor Lodge, Staff Club were damaged. The V.C. lodge symbolizing the authority was burnt down to great extent. AMU’s general imprison to be tolerant and peaceful institution gutted sending red signals throughout the world and old boys scattered on the globe became anxious.
The Vice-Chancellor took positive steps in saving the University from further damage and declared a sine-die. Hostels were vacated and students send to their homes. It was necessary to bring back the institution on the rails.
After closing down the university, the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Azis did not remained confined in his office. He again embarked upon consulting anybody who matters in the university using democratic ways to settle the rot. It is very important that he took upon the task of security as the vital issue. All the unauthorized entries in the university were blocked. A check procedure adopted, so that evils may not enter in the campus. All the wayside ‘dhabas’ were also removed.
The university reopened on 5th November 2007 and will continue to be in the process of reopening till 27th November, in five phases. The strategy has been to re-allot the halls according to faculty. That will be more beneficial for the students because they will have resources to consult each other. Naturally it will develop a scholarly atmosphere. Timings have been fixed for the students to return to their rooms because late night venturing by the students gives opportunities to bad elements to destabilise the university. It is more than necessary because the responsibility of security of students lies with the University administration.
A very constructive step is to issue the “campus pass” to the students and staff of the university which will minimize the chances of intrusion by outsiders. Under the captainship of the vice-chancellor, the University has devised a programme to run classes in afternoons of Friday after Namaz. It will recover the lost time during the sine-die. It is noteworthy that he has constituted a high level committee to look after schools, so that their standard of education may be enhanced. For the first time, an All India Essay writing competition on Sir Syed was held to highlight Sir Syed’s philosophy and to bring forth new talents. He has keen eye on international level also. He constituted a high power committee to suggest ways and means to improve the overall states of the institution so that it may be recognized on global level. Internet facilities have been provided and improved, so the students now get more exposure. He loves Urdu also, though it is not his mother tongue. For improving Urdu, he has established “Urdu Academy”.
The Vice Chancellor has done commendable work historically. If the institution could be ran for two years on these lines, then, the AMU will became one of the top institution of the world. There is no doubt that the efforts of Prof. Azis will pay a rich dividend in the long run.
The university, which is a dream coming true of Sir Syed and his associates, is passing through a phase which is very critical and never witnessed in the history. It is time when all those who care for the Muslim empowerment and the next generation should rise above petty considerations and support the Vice-Chancellor in his drive against ignorance and indiscipline. In these days of globalisation, it is more than necessary that the AMU Biradari took upon itself the most important task now which is to help the Vice-Chancellor in dawning a new era of academic excellence. Only then we will be able to recite –
Jo abr yahan se uthe ga
wo sare jahan pe barsega
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The writer is President, The Millat Badari Muhim Committee (MBMC), Aligarh. He can be reached at [email protected]