First ever Kingdom wide Jamia alumni directory also released on the occasion.
By TCN News,
Riyadh, KSA: The prestige of Jamia Millia Islamia is reflected in the fact that six academics from the University are currently heading six different Universities as Vice Chancellors, said Professor Mushahid Hussain, former head of Jamia’s Nanotechnology Department and currently the Vice Chancellor of Rohilkhand University, while speaking on the occasion of ‘A Jamia Campus across the Sea’,the annual feat of Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni Association (JMIAA) held in Riyadh on May 14, 2015.
He also mooted the idea of setting up an Educational Advisory by the Jamia Alumni in the Kingdom to share information about educational institutions and competitive examinations being held in India so that the children of the Indian community may avail of those opportunities.
An alumnus of Jamia, and currently a lecturer in Oxford’s Islamic studies department, Dr. Mohammad Talib, in his keynote address, shed light on the values of Jamia Millia Islamia. He said that it is the values that define a University. Physical structures and grand buildings can in the words of Dr. Zakir Hussain, become the “graveyards of institutions”. He congratulated the Jamia alumni for resurrecting the values of Jamia in form of Jamia Campus Across the Sea.
Dr. Talib expressed his delight at the launch of a directory of Jamia alumni working across the length and breadth of the Kingdom. He analyzed articles written by prominent Jamiaites Dr. Najeeb Qasmi, Murshid Kamal, Ghizal Mahdi, Zafar Bari, and Khurshid Anwar, discussing the contents of those articles in light of his own knowledge and experience. Bouquets were presented on behalf of the association to the guests by former presidents of JMIAA-Riyadh, Murshid Kamal and Khursheed Anwar.
The guests later travelled to Dammam to inaugurate the Dammam Chapter of Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni Association.
Earlier, the program began with a recitation of the Holy Quran with meaning by JMIAA’s treasurer Abdul Rahman. The program was ably anchored by Ahsan Nadwi who interspersed the proceedings with powerful selection of Urdu couplets.
Ghizal Mahdi, president of Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni Association, and the initiator of ‘A Jamia Campus across the Sea’ welcomed the guests and briefly introduced each of them and their immense contribution to Jamia.
Mahdi’s thrust was on the “monumental efforts” that were made by his team to collect data from different locations in the Kingdom, designing the directory, as well as getting it printed. He said that such an arduous task would not have been possible without the help of his colleagues Nisar Khan, Najeeb Qasmi and Abid Aqeel.
Mahdi also highlighted another major achievement of the association this year embodied in the scaling up of the speech and drawing painting competition which had unprecedented participation from six schools. He thanked the school principals for the immense interest and support in the program. The results of this program were announced and first position holders from each group delivered their speeches once again. The idea was to further boost their confidence and morale.
This is the first ever Kingdom-wide Directory of Jamiaites released in the programme.
Head of the Directory Committee, Nisar Khan informed that the directory includes information of more than 500 Jamiaites living in 24 locations across the Kingdom.
Another highlight of the programme was the organization of free sugar and blood pressure checkup.