Mumbai: Urdu lovers gathered at Hajj House in the city on Saturday evening to pay tribute to Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the educational institution that became the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), for his contribution to the cause of higher education among south Asia's Muslims.
The programme, organised by the Ahtesaab Foundation, MLA Rais Shaikh, Urdu Caravan, and the AMU Old Boys (Alumni) Association, Mumbai branch, also felicitated the annual awardees of Maharashtra State Urdu Sahitya Academy.
The highlight of the event was a panel discussion on 'Historical Status and Literary Heritage of Urdu in Maharashtra'. The panelists were Dr Abdullah Imtiyaz, head of the department of Urdu, University of Mumbai; Dr Qureshi Ateeq Ahmed, head of the department of Urdu, College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Badnapur, Jalna; Irfan Jafri, poet and writer).
Farid Ahmed Khan, president of Urdu Caravan, who won an award from the academy for promoting the language, said that Urdu is usually classified as a language of north India. “But the language has a 500-year-old history in Maharashtra and south India. While Amir Khusrau wrote in north India, Quli Qutb Shah and Wali Dakhani were writing in the language in the south. So the language was developing parallely in the south,” said Khan.
Quli Qutb Shah, the founder of Hyderabad state, wrote a diwan, a book of Urdu shayri or poetry. His work in several genres, is considered to be the first published literature in the Deccani or Dakhani dialect of the language.
October 17 is the birth anniversary of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan who established a college in 1877 that despite resistance from orthodox Muslims who were suspicious of western education, grew into the AMU. Dr Masroor Qureshi, secretary AMU Old Boys’ Association, Mumbai branch, said that Aligarh students do not just receive education; they are taught manners, respect and good behaviour which are rarely found in other educational institutions. “In Aligarh students learn how to respect elders and care for their younger ones. That’s why the bond between Aligarians is unique; it's an example of unity and brotherhood that you rarely find anywhere else,” said Qureshi.
He said that Sir Syed’s dream was that every Muslim should get modern and higher education so the community could progress with the times. “We have made some progress; many Muslims are now educated and institutions like AMU and others have helped. But we are still far behind compared to other communities,” said Qureshi. “The percentage of Muslims in higher education is still low especially among women and in rural areas. So while we have moved forward Sir Syed’s full vision is not yet achieved. There is still a long way to go.”
Qureshi stated that after Sir Syed, very few leaders have been able to build institutions matching the standard and vision of AMU. “Some good colleges and universities have been established in different parts of India by minorities but they do not have the same impact or nationwide influence as AMU. Sir Syed built not just a college but a movement for education reform and modern thinking, something rare today. The next generation of leaders has done some work, but not enough to reach that level of vision, dedication, and long-term planning, Qureshi added.
The chief guest at the function was economist, Dr Shariq Nisar Alig and the chairperson was Dr Imtiyaz. About 75 of the nearly 300 awardees attended the function.
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