The term of the present vice-chancellor, Mahmoodur Rahman, IAS, has expired on April 30, but the university is yet to send the panel of three names to the President of India who happens to be its Visitor.

Since AMU is a central university, the HRD Ministry headed by Murli Manohar Joshi is very much in the picture. Mr. Rahman has time and again declared with obvious pride that he not only has the "blessings" of the HRD Minister but also has a "mission" to complete.

A glimpse of this mission can be perceived from the fact that Irfan Habib, one of the eminent historians of India, is yet to be made Professor Emeritus several years after his retirement .... Mr. Rahman's ineptitude is evident if one looks at the way the university has been frequently closed, hostels vacated and students arrested during the past five years.

It is a pity that a university that was once presided over by such men of stature as Zakir Husain, Ali Yavar Jang and Badruddin Tayyabji has been thrown into a turmoil only because the incumbent vice-chancellor wants to continue in his present assignment by any means. He does not seem to mind if provisions of the AMU Act are violated, unhealthy precedents are set, and the university is rendered dysfunctional.

As things stand today, the university statutes do not permit re-appointment of a VC after he has completed his five-year term. Not even Zakir Husain, or anybody else after him, was re-appointed as vice-chancellor. While the university statutes clearly speak about the re-appointment of chancellor, pro-chancellor and honorary treasurer, they are silent about the VC, clearly indicating that he must demit office and make an honourable exit after completing his five-year term ...

But such legalities are not enough to deter a "man of mission" like Mahmoodur Rahman. He has got himself elected by the University Court at a meeting that he himself presided. (And he himself was a candidate.) He also saw to it that more than 40 vacancies in the court were not filled, transferred or removed a few "inconvenient persons" who were ex-officio members of the court, and inducted four new members in the Executive Council and nine new members in the University Court. And he won bagging the highest number of votes at a meeting of the court held on April 10, 2000 ...

Why is Mr. Rahman so keen on continuing as the AMU vice-chancellor? And why has he been blessed by the HRD Minister? A simple conjecture can be: To change the character of the university.

The saffron .brigade eyes the university with unconcealed dislike. After Independence, the university went through a turbulent history and its students waged a nationwide struggle to secure a minority status for it. They succeeded in 1981 when Indira Gandhi relented and the University Act was amended ...

Any change in its minority character is going to disturb the Muslim masses ... The saffron brigade realises that the Ayodhya card has become unplayable and is in search of another issue that can emotionally disturb the Muslims and has the potential of mobilising the Hindus, The importance of the AMU can hardly be overestimated in this regard.

It is not surprising that Mr. Rahman has made certain suggestions to inflame sectarian passions. He is of the view that the word "Muslim" should be removed from the university's name and has also floated the idea about the advisability of affiliating the three city colleges with the AMU, thus giving rise to fears about a move to change the minority character of the university once again.

If the university has to be put back on the rails, the President in his capacity as Visitor must appoint a man of stature who can command the respect and receive the cooperation of all the components of the university community ... (Source: The Hindustan Times, 5 May, 2000)