AMU should endeavour to get Nobel Prize: Salman Khurshid
IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, Oct 24: This past 17th October was 200th birthday of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Like every year, alumni associations of AMU celebrated the birth anniversary as Sir Syed Day in India and abroad. Duty Society, an institution founded more than 25 years before AMU and which played a pivotal role in the establishment of the university, also organized a special event on the occasion at Delhi’s India International Centre.
Duty Society celebrated the bicentenary of Sir Syed by discussing the great works done by him and the scope of widening his mission and vision, as he would have wanted it to be.
Distinguished speakers included persons associated with AMU like Mr. Salman Khurshid whose birth place is the VC Lodge of AMU; Prof. B.S. Panwar (VC- Sharda University), former alumnus of AMU; Dr. Syed Shahid Mahdi, AMU alumnus, former Faculty Member of AMU, former IAS, important functionary of World Food Organisation and former VC, Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi; Padma Shri Prof. Iqbal Hasnain, AMU alumnus, Faculty Member of AMU and JNU and former VC- Calicut University; Padma Shri Hakim Syed Zillur Rehman, Director Ibn Sina Academy, Aligarh.
In his speech, Mr. Khurshid talked about the special features of the character and contributions of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan towards modern education. He highlighted the importance of modern education and the need of more universities like Aligarh Muslim University for educational and cultural development of any nation.
Dr. Syed Shahid Mahdi, former IAS and Ex-VC of Jamia Milia Islamia and Prof. B. S. Panwar, Vice-Chancellor of Sharda University, Greater Noida also addressed the gathering.
Prof. Panwar recalled his days at AMU as a student and commended the efforts of Sir Syed in the field of education. Himself an excellent academician, Prof. Panwar talked about the various fields of education that the Aligarh Muslim University can progress in. He said that he has visited many educational institutions across the world but he found very different sense of discipline and decorum among the students of AMU. He emphasized on introduction of studies of new emerging fields like artificial intelligence, compressed sensing.
There was a galaxy of other distinguished members of public life, academicians, administrators, social activists from India and abroad who actively participated in this function. They included Mr. Arif Mohd. Khan and Mr. M.A.A. Fatmi- former ministers in Government of India; Mr. Mohd. M.M. Ansari, Ex- Information Commissioner, Government of India and member of UGC; Er. Moonis Kidwai; Mr. Khwaja Iftikhar, Prof. Humayun Murad, Prof. Mrs. Naushaba Murad, Dr. Ataat, Ms. Mariyam, Ms. Shahin Ghayas, Engr. Hasan Kamal, Ms. Shakila Ahmad, Prof. M.B. Khan and a large number of senior Faculty Members of Jamia Milia Islamia, Jamia Hamdard, Gautam Buddha University and Sharda University.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan established the Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh in 1877. In 1920, by the efforts of Duty Society which had raised a fund of Rs.30 lakhs to get the Charter of Aligarh Muslim University, the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College was given the charter of the university.
A brief about Duty Society
Duty Society (Anjuman-Al-Farz) was founded by M.A.O. College alumnus Sahabzada Aftab Ahmad Khan during Sir Syed’s lifetime in 1889. The primary objective of Duty Society was to have a permanent fund to support the poor and needy students of the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental (MAO) College. Duty Society focused on 3 main issues which helped to promote the vision and mission of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Aligarh Movement. The members of Duty Society visited different parts of the country to generate funds to help poor and needy students of MAO College and garner support for MAO College and Aligarh Movement. The tour of the members of Duty Society played an important role in clarifying the misconceptions about Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Aligarh Movement and encouraged the masses to send their children to MAO College for higher education. The prospective students and their family got an opportunity to meet the students, staff and supporters of MAO College at their doorsteps to clarify their misconceptions about Sir Syed and MAO College Aligarh. The first delegation consisting of Sahabzada Aftab, Mr. Abdullah Khan, Maulvi Bahadur Ali and Maulana Tufail Ahmad made a visit to Agra to generate funds on 15th November 1890 and the second delegation comprised of Maulana Mazharul Haq and Maulana Tufail Ahmad visited Saharanpur to raise funds for Duty Society. (Source: website of Duty Society)
AMU should endeavour to get Nobel Prize
Three concrete suggestions prominently emerged from the daylong serious discussions held at the Duty Society’s event on 18th October in Delhi.
1. The Aligarh Muslim University should endeavor to get Nobel Prize or an equivalent prize in any field. This suggestion came from none other than a well known educationist and legal expert Mr. Salman Khurshid.
2. AMU should focuss on emerging areas of Science and Technology like Artificial Intelligence, Computational Linguistics, etc., emphasized by several speakers specially Prof. Panwar, Vice-Chancellor, Sharda University.
3. Creation of organizations of institutions and associated persons who are engaged in carrying forward the mission and vision of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
