It was a big day of pride and joy for the members of the Bazm-e-Alig, the alumni association of Aligarh Muslim University of India in Qatar, as they celebrated the 199th birth anniversary of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, a pioneering Islamic reformist, philosopher, social activist and educator, by paying him homage at the Doha Marriott Hotel, last week.
Widely regarded as one of the architects of modern India, Sir Syed was the founder of the Mohammaden Anglo Oriental (MAO) College in Aligarh, India, in 1875, which later became the renowned Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in 1920. The university has produced many heads of states in the subcontinent and has a distinct presence in the literary and academic sphere in India. Interestingly, Sir Syed’s initiative spurred the Aligarh Movement, which motivated Muslims in India to help open a number of educational institutions.
The programme began with the recitation of the Holy Quran. Homage and tributes were paid to the association’s senior-most member, Zaman, who passed away last year. Presentations were made to illustrate the contributions of Sir Syed in the educational reforms in India and the history and contributions of Bazm-e-Alig in Qatar, which was established here in 1988 and has been actively involved in promoting literary and cultural activities in the country.
In his address to the gathered members, Irshad Ahmad Faridi, the president of the association, urged them to unite and work towards the cause of Sir Syed. He outlined the objectives and the priorities of Bazm-e-Alig and the idea behind the formation of the association 28 years ago. He also thanked the guests, the wealth management consulting firm InvestAdvice who sponsored the event, and the members for putting their faith in the executive committee.
The chief guest of the event, current Vice Chancellor of Nalsar University of Law in Hyderabad, India, Professor Dr Faizan Mustafa, told Community, “Having studied at AMU, we obviously feel emotionally attached to the alma mater. Since Aligarh has a very strong ‘senior-junior’ tradition, when seniors from AMU asked me to visit Doha to celebrate this occasion, I couldn’t refuse.”
In his detailed speech, Mustafa elaborated on the intricacies of some lesser-known cases and facts. Of the subjects he discussed, one was about dispelling the misconception that Sir Syed was the originator of the two-nation theory. “I explained how Sir Syed was instead an advocate of liberty of thought, and individual opinion,” Mustafa said, “I also discussed at length the issue of the minority character of AMU. My fundamental point was that even though the Supreme Court of India has very liberally interpreted all fundamental rights, including the rights of the minorities, when it came to AMU, the Supreme Court gave a highly regressive interpretation and a wrong judgment in 1967. On the basis of highly technical and strict interpretation, it decided that the university was not established by the Muslims of India.”
From giving the audience a clear picture about the situation in which the university was established to touching upon the subsequent amendments done by the parliament in the AMU act, Mustafa laid bare the many facets of this complex matter.
Along with Mustafa, the event was graced by Moosa Zainal Moosa, advisor and the patron of the association since its inception in 1988; Guest of Honour, Mohd Aleem Khan, Third Secretary (Labour) at the Indian embassy; and other guests such as Hasan Chowgule, Ateeq Anzar, Nabeel and people from various forums who are working to propagate Urdu in this country.
While Moosa spoke at length about Sir Syed and his mission, Mohd Aleem urged the members of Bazm to take forward the cause of Sir Syed by spreading education amongst the poor and downtrodden people of India. Nitin Garg, Director of InvestAdvice, spoke about the movement of educational reforms which Sir Syed stood for.
A nazm (Urdu poem) penned by Nadeem Mahir was recited by Aqil and Sajid and dialogues between Aftab and Faisal took the members down the memory lane, right back to their university days, evoking sweet nostalgia of life at Aligarh.
The function ended with the singing of the AMU Tarana with members participating in it with great enthusiasm followed by the traditional and delicious Annual Sir Syed Dinner.