AMU, beyond the anti-India slander
When the movement for a separate homeland was looked up with reverent awe, the Aligarh Muslim University stood against the myopic attempt and still stands for free inquiry, large-hearted tolerance and scientific temper
When the movement for a separate homeland was looked up with reverent awe, the Aligarh Muslim University stood against the myopic attempt and still stands for free inquiry, large-hearted tolerance and scientific temper. Does a continual sneering campaign against Aligarh Muslim University on one pretext or the other betray the unbridled power of politicians to shape reality? Do they have the power to reshape reality by roping in half-truths, distortion and selective dissemination of facts? The answer to the above questions is “yes”. The university, notwithstanding its proven academic credentials, is being described as an abode of unpatriotic traitors where hate-filled, obnoxious texts by some Pakistani authors find a place. For politicians who do not even have the foggiest idea of academic discourse, the university seems to be “shamelessly unrelenting” about their demands to remove works by such authors from its curricula as well as the portrait of Jinnah, who visited the AMU students union building in 1938. Amidst this cacophony, it is time to pause. One has to go beyond the willing suspension of disbelief created by politicians and some sections of the media.
They vehemently allege that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), the so-called hub for fundamentalist and obscurantist ideologies use anti-India texts produced by some Pakistani authors. The syllabus of various departments and the list of books available on the university’s website clarify what is being taught. It bears testimony that no department refers to such outrageous texts. However, some prominent Pakistani Urdu poets such as Nasir Kazmi, Faiz, and Muneer Niyazi, who poignantly portray various human predicaments and have no anti-India agenda, are being taught. Similarly, in Islamic studies, the syllabus of various schools representing different interpretations of Islam are taught. Here, one can find some recommended readings of different ideologues belonging to various countries, but their texts locate Islam through various prisms without having any reference to India.
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