STAIRWAYS
OPPORTUNITY BECKONS FOR MUSLIM YOUTH IN KISHANGANJ Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi , at the inauguration ceremony, asserted that the party believed in secularism and inclusive development. She claimed that Congress had accepted most of the recommendations of the Sachar Committee which focused on removing the development deficit which made some minority communities suffer .
- By Ahmed Kamal Khusro
M
any Aligarians had bemoaned the fact that the Aligarh movement was confined to one place and after the death of Sir Syed it did not spread beyond Aligarh. Now more than a hundred years after the death of its founder of the Aligarh movement, by the grace of Allah, the Aligarh movement is spreading its wings in Bihar, Maharashtra , Bengal, Kerala and other states. It is hoped that the academic excellence of Aligarh will find new avenues and groom youth of the other far-flung corners of the country. A beginning was made recently in Kishanganj, Bihar to set up a centre of higher education. This will definitely benefit the Muslim youth of the state who had to travel long distances for studying in good colleges and universities. Many had to opt out of higher studies owning to the geographical distances and lack of means to surmount them. Emboldened by the Kishanganj centre, other centres are expected to be set up in Muslim dominated states and this will Insha’Allah definitely benefit the community. But while this is a happy augury, the fate of Aligarh’s minority
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status still hangs in the balance. The alumni of the institution and its vicechancellor should take immediate steps to restore the minority status of the University as the matter is languishing in the courts. Muslim educationists, activists, journalists and politicians time and again have demanded minority status for Aligarh Muslim University. The demand was raised at a day-long national convention held recently by Sir Syed Minority Foundation of India. AMU Vice Chancellor Lt. Gen. (retd) Zameer Uddin Shah said a unified effort was needed to put
AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt. Gen. Shah
pressure on the government to enact a law ensuring minority status for the university. Shah said a case pertaining to the matter was pending before the Supreme Court and everyone would have to wait till it was decided. People of the state have expressed their joy that owing to the efforts from various quarters, and the dedication of Maulana Asrarul Haque Qasmi under whose leadership Kishanganj succeeded to get a Centre of AMU whose foundation stone was laid on 30th January, 2014 by Congress chief, Smt. Sonia Gandhi. Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi, at the inauguration