Have no regrets,says outgoing AMU V-C

“No. Never,never (did I expect such a reception). I thought this was an institution with high academic ambience…. Was completely unaware what Aligarh would be (like). I thought that it was a prestigious university of national importance,and that getting a chance is worth the effort,” he told The Indian Express.

However,he said he has no regrets,and will not change even some of his most controversial decisions even if he could revisit them. “I would have done the same things. You wanted to offer an honest,transparent governance system,and there can be no change the second time too.”

Among the decisions Azis said he would not reverse was the suspension and subsequent treatment of Shrinivas Ramachandra Siras,a Reader of Marathi at the university. Siras committed suicide in April 2010 after being hounded out of the AMU for his homosexuality. “I don’t regret it. Institutions are more important than individuals. You cannot have freedom at the cost of values nurtured by an institution. Do it outside; nobody is bothered,” said Azis.

Azis,who went against the Aligarh tradition of not establishing institutions of the AMU outside a 25 km radius from the university mosque by setting up off-campus centres in Kerala and West Bengal,relied upon tradition to justify why he did not respond to the repeated petitions of the students of the Abdullah Women’s College for relaxations on restrictions on their movement.

“There is a precedent in the University established by my predecessors. No V-C should be allowed to change it without any detailed consideration with the stakeholders of the university…. Individually,we are all for these things. But the Aligarh Muslim University has inherited a culture,where the Muslim values are well-guarded by its founders and successors,and I don’t think anybody will be able to change that without problems,” he said.

He said that the almost 200 student suspensions meted out during his tenure were,“in the best interests of the University”. “When two groups of students are fighting and shooting at each other,you can’t work on a Gandhian principle.”

Azis agreed that the absence of a hearing,given to students put on notice,may have ended up punishing innocent students who may have been on the spot to pacify the mob. “There are some complaints like that,but they are all unsubstantiated….. Why were they seen in a place where an unwanted incident took place? The (CCTV) cameras spotted them….”

While Azis’s tenure was marked by his intense hostility with a vocal section of teachers,who are demanding his resignation even on the last week of the V-C’s tenure,he has had comparatively better relations with students. An exception was when agitating students attacked the V-C’s lodge in September 2007. The Students’ Union,which was disbanded after that incident,has since been reinstated.

All this does not prevent Azis from stating that he would have taken up the post even if he knew the pitfalls that awaited him on the job. “I may again do that. Because Aligarh has given me a wonderful chance to serve the cause of education…. If I were anywhere else,I would not have been able to do as much,” said Azis.