Opinion Distant learning
Setting up two more campuses for Aligarh Muslim University makes little sense....
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced in his Budget speech that Aligarh Muslim University had decided to establish its campuses at Murshidabad in West Bengal and Malappuram in Kerala,and that he proposed to make an allocation of Rs 25 crore each for these two campuses. While it is undoubtedly true that Muslims in Bengal have been educationally neglected by successive governments since Independence,this may not be the answer.
The idea of a Muslim university at Aligarh had been discussed as early as 1898 at the Muhammedan Education Conference and since that year the trustees had been making efforts to raise the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (MAO College) founded by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in 1875,to the status of a university. The movement for a Muslim university gained strength,and at the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Education Conference held in Bombay in 1903,the Aga Khan made a strong plea for the establishment of a Muslim university at Aligarh with affiliated colleges all over India. In the address presented to the Viceroy,Lord Minto,at Simla in 1906,the Muslim Deputation reiterated this demand.
From a strictly educational point of view,Sir John Hewitt,Lieutenant Governor of UP and several other officials saw little justification for a separate Muslim university. Hewitt opposed the idea on the ground that denominational universities would increase the already existing communal tensions in the province but his government finally decided to support the scheme for political reasons. An affiliating university at Aligarh had become a political battle cry.
The matter was referred to London where it was vigorously debated in the Secretary of States India Council. When the constitution of the proposed university was being drawn up in the first two decades of the last century,the question of whether the university should have the power of affiliating colleges was vigorously debated. Sir Theodore Morrison,a member of the Council who had been a former principal of MAO college and a close friend of Sir Syed,strongly opposed granting Aligarh the power of affiliation on the ground that it would be inconsistent with the idea of a teaching and residential university. It was argued that the standards of Aligarh would be diluted by affiliating institutions far away,over which the university would not be able to exercise control; it would violate the principle of territorial affiliation on which Indian universities were constituted and the government would permit an enclave in any district where a few Muslims would set up an educational institution. The Secretary of State,Lord Crewe,was himself not opposed to the idea of affiliation but with almost unanimous opposition from his Council,he was compelled to refuse this power to the proposed university.
The Viceroy,Lord Hardinge and the Education Member of his Council,Sir Harcourt Butler feared that refusal to grant affiliation would cause grave political embarrassment and urged London that the right to affiliation should be granted on political grounds. The India Council however,remained adamant.
MAO College was started to provide English education to the sons of the Muslim elites of north India. Sir Syed hoped that they would become loyal subjects of the Raj. However,during the Khilafat movement,Aligarh became the centre of anti-British agitation and pan-Islamic sentiments,and in the 1940s was drawn to the Muslim League and the demand for Pakistan. It has thus seen many political swings.
No community or group should be denied education. The Sachar Committee Report has highlighted the educational backwardness of Muslims in Bengal. While the states literacy rate is 68.6 per cent,among its Muslims the figure drops to 57.5 per cent. Whereas 82.8 per cent of Muslim children were enrolled at the primary stage,the number dropped to about 26 per cent (in 2001) at the middle level and those who finished the next level to become eligible for admission to college. As we go up the education ladder,the drop out rate is higher and higher not only among Muslims but for SCs,STs and girls in Bengal as elsewhere in India. The main reason for this is poverty but also the appalling state of government secondary schools lack of infrastructure,overcrowded classes,poor quality teaching etc.
With the growing demand for higher education,India must certainly have more colleges and universities and there is every reason that Murshidabad should have one. But why should it be affiliated to AMU? AMU has enough problems of its own. It is full of sectarian politics. Does it have the administrative structure and academic quality to manage a university thousands of miles away? And if this is permitted,why cannot any other university in India demand the same right? By the same logic,Benares Hindu University (BHU) can also have affiliated colleges and universities.
Ancient and medieval universities in Britain such as Oxford and Cambridge and in Europe were religious seminaries. But from the nineteenth century onwards,universities became seats of secular learning both in the West and in India. The first three universities set up in India in 1857 Calcutta,Bombay and Madras were all secular,as were all subsequent universities. AMU and BHU were exceptions in being allowed to have Muslim and Hindu in their nomenclature.
One can well understand that there is hunger for higher education in Murshidabad but why for AMU? Let Murshidabad by all means have a college or university of high quality but why cannot it be an independent university or a college affiliated to Calcutta University? The colonial government used education as a means of encouraging the growth of communal consciousness. Let us not allow vote bank politics to dictate educational decisions.
Aparna Basu is the author of several books on education including Growth of Education and Political Development in India. She was Professor of History,University of Delhi
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