The word ‘Muslim’ is the most sensitive middle name any person or institution can have these days in India. The national public sphere is turning into an echo chamber in which words like Pakistan, Jinnah, Islam, Muslims, terrorism, Kashmir, Madrasa, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Taliban, Jihad, Mughal, Taj Mahal, Babri Masjid, Bangladeshi, Rohingya all constitute just one imagination. In fact, they have also begun to acquire the same meaning, which is both “anti-Hindu” and “anti-national”.
So last week when former Vice President and former Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Hamid Ansari, came to the campus in Aligarh because he was invited by the University Court to join its prestigious hall of fame, he was simply not allowed to enter the main buildings. Hindu Yuva Vahini members waylaid his convoy. Several students were severely hurt in the lathicharge that followed. The local administration was insensitive, perhaps even complicit, reports say.
Perhaps it is AMU’s fate to be exploited by a variety of stakeholders since its inception. The Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, established in 1875 at the end of a nationwide campaign by Syed Ahmad Khan, was not recognised by the British Raj until 1920, although the Banaras Hindu University, conceived of much later, was recognised in 1915. In fact the British refused the MAO permission to have a branch outside Aligarh, apparently because to wanted to treat both AMU and BHU “equally.”
Established on a campus of 467.6 hectares, the university today has hostels named after leaders like BR Ambedkar, Sarojini Naidu and the Dalai Lama and many centres of excellence named after Muslims, non-Muslims, Shias, Sunnis, Leftist, nationalists and globalists. This is simply because the university has evolved through a historical and social process, which means it simply cannot manifest the uniformed character of a corporate university.
AMU became the centre of anti-colonialism struggles around the world. It became a debating centre for Marxist thought, especially in north India. It also became the intolerable envy of many traditional Islamic clerics who had once issued fatwas against its founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan for being much too modern.
This diversity of the university’s intellectual character was preserved and protected by several institutional mechanisms through which a variety of nationalist voices became members of the University Court. The list of members – among them Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Nehru, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, and Mohammed Ali Jinnah – is a manifestation of the idea of diversity that is a fundamental tenet of AMU. Although the accommodation of several conflicting interests can become very problematic in the political sphere, as we saw around the time of Partition/Independence with the Indian National Congress and the BJP today.
Truth is, year after year, AMU’s several research departments are ranked near the top because of its persistent outstanding scientific research. It is odd why its graduates don’t get the attention many of them deserve – perhaps because AMU’s middle name is ‘Muslim?’