AMU

Rajesh Ramachandran on the State of the AMU

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), (a) premier university of the nation. It was closed sine die on December 17. following violence on the campus including manhandling of teachers and burning of the Police Superintendent's car. The Vice-chancellor's house was also attacked.

In AMU, admissions was the issue. Alleging irregularities, Mirajudeen and Mohammed Aslam, former office-bearers of the student union, and their supporters attacked the staff association office, manhandled the registrar and created havoc on the campus. The two leaders along with 25 others were expelled.

Vice-chancellor Mahmoodur Rahman, an IAS officer who was additional chief secretary (home) of Jammu & Kashmir, says that the real reason for some students turning violent was that they could not get people admitted through the backdoor. "Earlier some of them used to get 100 people admitted every year. I know of a student who owns a car and several flats in the city; he used to earn at least Rs. 1 lakh a year through admissions. The hostels had become safe havens for these anti-social elements. Some were staying in hostels and working in Delhi. To flush them out, I asked all the students to vacate the hostels and that has paid rich dividends."

Alleging that irregularities in admissions were Committed during the tenure of his predecessor, Mahmoodur Rahman points out that the recent unrest was the handiwork of those who have become desperate. "They got in through the backdoor and were provided with artificial ladders. They got illegal promotions and passed out of the engineering and medical colleges taking up to the ten years in the process. When I removed the ladders, they had no choice but to agitate and get me removed. Now illegal entry and exit are things of the past and those who are stranded will have to toil to make the grade. Most of the students are with me and the professional colleges have started functioning peacefully.

Illegal occupancy is a (common) problem. Aligarh students are divided on the lines of Khan and Choudhary, and Sunni and Shia. Kashmiris fight Biharis. Even teachers take an active part in dividing students.

The campus is becoming the hunting grounds for politicians. Says Saiyid Hamid, a former vice-chancellor of AMU and a former chairman of Staff Selection Commission: "If the president of the student union takes interest in academic or co-curricular activities, he remains obscure and uncared for outside the campus. But if he mounts an agitation and creates disturbance, he becomes the blue-eyed boy of one political party or another. Such student leaders have been given tickets to the assembly and Parliament elections and quite a few have become ministers. There is an in-built premium on unruly behavior". According to him, "any Muslim who has considerable clout in AMU is taken as representing the Muslim community. This makes our Muslim political figures back the wrong horses". He also says that it is the insecurity of the average Muslim student, who feels that he is discriminated against in the job market, that makes him join anti-social elements.

The inherent flaws in the administrative structure of Aligarh also contribute to the unrest in the campus. The vice-chancellor is chosen through open debate among the 184 members of the 'court', the governing body of the university. They forward three names to the President, who is the Visitor of the university. Usually, the President appoints the first person on the list.

This practice has led to lobbying. Once the vice- chancellor is appointed those who favored him expect rewards while those who opposed him continue to do so, for their respective allegiances are well known. Saiyid Hamid had written to the President pointing out the lacunae of the system. "It is a most indecorous way of selecting a vice-chancellor", he says. "The whole campus is divided into two or three groups. But the government refuses to do anything as the matter pertains to the minority community." The present vice-chancellor also feels that the system leads to unwarranted animosity between the staff and the vice-chancellor.

(Source: The Week, 4 February, 1996)

Delhi High Court on Non-Bailable Warrant Against Ahmed Bukhari

"It is coming to the notice of this Court in several matters that officers of subordinate judiciary, instead of addressing themselves to the sole legal or factual issues arising in the cases before them are unnecessarily indulging in making observations. regarding matters which do not arise in the case." He added that it was becoming imperative to lay down certain guidelines in this regard.

"The order under challenge, instead of dealing with the specific issue before the magistrate, contains several observations not only against the police but also in respect of certain religious matters. Prima facie, it appears to us that the observations nay a long lecture given by the learned magistrate - were absolutely uncalled for."

"By making the uncalled-for observations the learned magistrate has made his order vulnerable. Therefore, we are not at the moment going into the merits of the ultimate directions given by him, but we are on the manner in which the order has been pronounced and the likely prejudice these observations may cause to public at large."