RIYADH – Riyadh chapter of Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Association (AMUOBA) recently held a seminar titled "AMU's Minority character the constitutional rights" at a local restaurant here. During the seminar, Prof. Dr. Javed Musarrat, vice chancellor, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, said that the issue of Aligarh Muslim University's (AMU) minority character is an extremely sensitive and serious issue. It needs to be handled with utmost care and prudence. "Any fight for Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia or Jawaharlal Nehru University should not be fought alone by Muslim minorities, instead we should gather support from all sections of society globally to fight against fascism on a large scale," he added. Currently the government is targeting all educational institutions, and is using schools, universities and history textbooks to spread the saffron ideology. These were main thrust of the speakers at the seminar. Keynote speaker Prof. Dr. Javed Musarrat highlighted historic aspects of the Aligarh Muslim University and how it was established during the British rule in India. Over the issue of the minority character of AMU, Javed said this is a 50-year-old controversy. "This issue was raked up in 1965 and related to external and internal reservations in AMU following which AMU reduced the internal or institutional reservation from 75 percent to 50 percent," he said. He said: "On Jan. 11, 2016 Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi informed a bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices J.S. Kehhar, M.Y. Eqbal and C. Nagappan that it is the stand of the Union of India that the AMU is not a minority university, therefore, the government is withdrawing the Union of India's appeal against the judgment of the Allahabad High Court. This is a total reversal of the stand taken by the earlier government. Gopal Subramanium, the learned counsel, submitted before the Allahabad High Court that the AMU was "an institution founded by the Muslims and it has only been incorporated as a university by the Act of 1920." He added: "The constitution of India says in article 30(1) ‘All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice'. The Supreme Court has ruled that a university is very much an educational institution within the meaning of Act 30(1), however, the present political dispensation says that ‘we cannot be seen as setting up a minority institution in a secular state'." He said that the Supreme Court should simply reconsider the Aziz Basha judgment, which has been criticized by all the legal luminaries. For instance justice H.M. Seervai, who is India's greatest constitutional author, in his criticism said the 1967 decision of the Supreme Court is protective of great mischief and must be overruled. He quoted that Mahatma Gandhi said protection of minorities is the hallmark of the civilization. The framers of the constitution showed utmost sensitivity to the needs and aspirations of the minorities. The AMU is a minority institution established by great social reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan for modern education of Indian Muslims. It currently ranks among the top ten universities in India. Former president AMUOBA, Dr. Mohammed Ahmad Badshah, Obaid Ur Rahman, chairman, Bihar Foundation, Dr. Abdul Salam also spoke on the occasion. Guest of honor, Dr. Nadim Tarin, and the team from the AMUOBA, presented a memento to the chief guest Prof. Javed Musarrat. Suhail Ahmed, president of AMOUBA, welcomed the gathering and Dr. Abdul Ahad Chowdary recited verses of the Holy Qur'an to start the proceedings. Arshad A Khan, secretary AMOUBA, conducted the proceedings and vice president Salman Khalid proposed the vote of thanks. A large number of Aligs as well as non-Aligs and heads of other associations here attended this seminar.
