KARACHI: Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s 194th birthday turned out to be quite an event, not only had Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) alumnus graced the occasion but the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) chancellor announced that Rs12 million was being spent on a centre for irrigation and flood relief at the university.
The chancellor said that the money for the centre was given quite generously by the chief guest and an AMU alumnus Bashir Malik. The centre would deal with the entire country’s irrigation problems.
The memorial ceremony was organised by the SSUET in collaboration with the AMU Old Boys Association on Monday night. It kicked off with a naat and the Tarana-e-Aligarh.
The elderly gentlemen were dressed smartly in black sherwanis and three-piece suits. They tapped their feet and sang the tarana with the students. Fatima Saima then spoke about Sir Syed Khan, followed by a similar speech in Urdu by Omer Ali Kazmi. Noted Udru poet Khumar Farooqi took to the stage and recited a few verses in tribute to the university’s founder. According to the chancellor, the SSUET had kept Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s spirit alive by making Pakistan studies, the Aligarh movement and Pakistan movement compulsory subjects.
The chief guest went on to talk about how people like Sir Syed were remembered because of what they had accomplished - in this case it was AMU. He said the AMU students had invested in the freedom movement and it was because of them we are living in a free country. He added that today, the country was divided despite the efforts made by Sir Syed. Noted writer and poet Muslim Shamim talked about Sir Syed’s life and how Asbab Baghawat-i-Hind was written then translated into English and sent to the British government. AMU alumnus Saeed Siddiqi said that Khan was the man behind the reason we have Pakistan and can live freely.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2011.
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British had created even communal universities to keep the the community divided.Even after the partition, the Pakistani movement and the continuation of communal universities are not abolished, but glorified , thanks to Indian Muslims Zakir Hussain, Maulana Azad and others. These universities with communal names around the country are indeed fomenting communalism, breeding radicalism, and destroying India using India's tax payers money.
It is a beautiful report. However, one thing that we are forgetting it in spite of the contribution of A.M.U., its teachers, students and alumni in the creation of Pakistan, when the Government of India was thinking of closing the university back in 1947, Dr. Zakir Husain, Maulana Azad and some other Muslim leaders aligned with the Congress party opposed it. It is because of their efforts that AMU is now a premier university in India.