By Afzal Usmani for TwoCircles.net,
“When a boy winks and the girl smiles, information is exchanged in wireless mode”. This is how Prof. Mohammad Naseem Faruqui explained wireless communication while inaugurating “The cellular Radio and Mobile Communication (CRAM-92)” a seminar in Kennedy Auditorium of Muslim University Aligarh in the winter of 1992. The event was organized by Department of Electronics Engineering; Aligarh Muslim University This is one of the best and easy to remember way to explain wireless communication I have ever heard. This left a long lasting impact on me of Prof. Faruqui and his abilities to communicate.
It is very sad news that Prof. Faruqui is no more with us. Even being such a good communicator, somehow the students, staff and the alumni could not receive his message and most part of his tenure ended up in disturbance and chaos. Even after so many disturbances and a chaotic situation, his efforts to bring the Muslim University in 21st century could not be blocked by his detractors. Even though AMU campus faced a lot of turmoil and chaotic situation due to the demolition of Babri Masjid, riots in Aligarh, Police firing and death of a student, his mission to modernize Muslim University did not stop.
Prof. Mohammad Naseem Faruqui
He computerized and modernized the process of admission and examinations including Engineering, Medical and other competitive exams and results of these competitions could be declared within few days of its occurrence. Introduced many modern professional course including, Masters in Finance (MFC), Masters in Tourism (MTA), Masters in International Business (MIBM), Masters in Food Technology (MFT) and B.Tech. in Computer Engineering. He paid special attention to Department of Electronics Engineering and used to teach a paper of Digital Communication for M.Tech. He went ouf of his way to help establish “Center of Telematics and Research” under Dept. of Electronics Engineering and purchased state of the art equipments of the time. He used to regularly visit the center to guide the students working at the center. It was his tenure which gave finest faculty members to the Department of Electronics Engineering at AMU Aligarh. People may disagree with me but I personally consider Prof. Mohammad Naseem Faruqui as the best Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University in last quarter of a century. Prof. Faruqui wrote his memoire of his AMU Aligarh days as “My Days at Aligarh”. He was always in touch with the affairs of AMU Aligarh and was a member of AMUNetwork for a long time and wrote a very thoughtful article, “Aligarh Muslim University — Search for Excellence” in December 2010.
Mohammad Naseem Faruqui was born in district Sultanpur of United Province of British India in the family of Mr. Abdul Saleem Faruqui. After completing his primary education in Sultanpur, he joined Allahabad University for graduation before joining Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur in 1952. After completing his B.Tech, M.Tech and PhD from IIT Kharagpur in 1956, he joined his Alma mater as a Lecturer in 1958 in Department of Electrical Engineering and rose to be Reader, Professor and finally Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur before becoming Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University on 15th October 1990.
He had published more than 35 research papers in national and International Journals and guided 4 students for PhD. His areas of interest were Digital Communication systems, Computer networking, Office automation, E-Governance, Image-Processing, Video & Speech Bandwidth Compression. After having an experience of more than three decades in teaching and research at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, Prof. Faruqui took over as the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University on 15th October 1990 and served till December 15, 1994.
My Days at Aligarh
After leaving AMU Aligarh he became Chairman of U.P. Minority Commission for a while and then moved to his favorite profession of teaching and joined as Professor at University Putra Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After a while there, he moved back to India and joined as Chief Executive Development at Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Ghaziabad. He was awarded VASVIK Award for outstanding research, National Promotion award for development of AMD. He later joined Jaypee University of Engineering and Technology and Galgotia College of Engineering and Technology in Advisory role. He also served as Chair Professor – IIT Kharagpur Foundation. Prof. Faruqui also headed I.I.T. Foundations Project – “A computer and Internet access to every student in the hall rooms”. The project was the vision of Suhas Patil, an IIT graduate of 1965. This single project was to catapult IIT Kharagpur into the ranks of the most connected academic institutions in the world. In May 2002 along with Dr. K. C. Sahu, Prof. Faruqui was presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards by IIT Bombay in recognition for the 33 years he served at IIT Kharagpur in various capacities, including that of Dean and Deputy Director and later working on major projects for the Ministry of Defense.
Prof. Mohammad Naseem Faruqui passed away on August 24, 2012 at Kanpur after a prolonged illness in Kanpur. His burial took place in Kanpur. He is survived by his widow Mrs. Swaleha Faruqui, a son Mr. Nadeem Faruqui and a daughter.
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Afzal Usmani is founder and webmaster of http://www.aligarhmovement.com and can be reached at [email protected]