AGRA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the main guest at the celebrations of the 100 years of Muslim University of Aligarh, one of the oldest college teams in the country, on December 22.
“A centenary is a milestone in the history of any university … The entire AMU community and I are grateful to the prime minister for accepting our invitation,” rector. Tariq mansoor he told TOI on Wednesday. “The presence of the prime minister at this historic event will be of great help to the growth and development of the university and the placement of our students.” Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank will also attend, he added.
The last time a prime minister attended an event at the university was in 1964, when Lal Bahadur Shastri delivered the convocation speech. However, it comes with a change of plans. AMU officials had previously told TOI that President Ram Nath Kovind would be attending the centennial celebrations. However, he has now postponed his plan and will attend in February 2021. All events will take place online, given current Covid-19 restrictions.
A senior AMU official told TOI that the prime minister’s presence “would send a strong message to Bjp officials who continue to attack the institution ”. AMU protests against CAA sparked a backlash last year. Its academics have spoken out against cases of violence against women in UP and in favor of the ongoing farmers’ protest in Delhi.
The VC did not share the itinerary for Dec. 22, but sources said the prime minister may inaugurate the newly built campus gate, release a postage stamp and commemorative coffee table book, and attend the burial of a ‘capsule of time ‘with memories of AMU.
The Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College was created in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, following the line of what he saw in Oxford and Cambridge. In 1920, it was renamed the Muslim University of Aligarh and was formally inaugurated as a university on December 17 by the then VC Mohammad Ali Mohammad Khan, the Raja Saheb of Mahmudabad.
.
