An Address of Welcome
from
Kishanganj Public Reception Committee (KPRC), Kishanganj
Kishanganj Public Reception Committee (KPRC), Kishanganj
to
Prof. (Dr.) P K Abdul Azis, Vice Cahancellor, AMU, Aligarh
On his visit to
Kishanganj
At 7 PM, Wednesday, the 22nd of May 2010
Honourable Mr. Vice-Chancellor sir,
I, Mausoof Serwer, an alumnus of AMU, on behalf of the Kishanganj Public Reception Committee representing the hopes and aspirations of the people of Bihar and North Bengal welcome your highness Prof. (Dr.) P K Abdul Azis, the VC of AMU, one of the most prestigious universities of the world. The name AMU needs no introduction especially in this part of the world as many of the illustrious sons of this region are the very products of this great institution.
The Reception Committee takes this finest opportunity to express on behalf of the entire population of the region its gratitude to the Govt. of India and the Govt. of Bihar along with the DM, Kishanganj, Mr. Feraque Ahmed, the honourable MP, Kishanganj, Maulana Asrarul Haque Quasmi, MLA Kishanganj, Alhaj Akhtarul Iman and all those enlightened personalities who have stood by this move through thick and thin.
Ladies and gentlemen!
Aligarh Muslim University, a culmination of the efforts of the great reformer Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, was actually the response to an awakening call coming out of the disastrous effect of the first struggle of independence in 1857.
Started as Madarsatul Uloom in the year 1875, the institution had all the indicators of a global centre of learning since its inception. Appointment of Prof. G. E. Siddons, a veteran at the Cambridge, as its first headmaster bears evidence to the vision of the great Sir Syed.
Lord Lytton, the Viceroy of India, laid the foundation stone of the college when Madarsatul Uloom evolved into Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College in 1877.
Syed Mahmood, son of Sir Syed, felt the need to start a university and the efforts were started right in 1902 under the stewardship of Agha Khan. Finally, Aligarh Muslim University came into being in the year 1920. Only the sixth university in India. The year 1951 saw its transformation into a Central University by an act of Parliament.
Today home to more than 250 courses in traditional and modern branches of education, AMU has proved to be a centre of excellent learning which has left its indelible mark on all spheres of life throughout the world. AMU enjoys the unique distinction of being the alma mater of the maximum number of heads of states and people of significance. AMU has also the distinction of producing several heads of states for other nations of the world.
AMU, which has lived a life of over a hundred and thirty-five years, has been witness to the many epoch making occurrences of the world; has itself encountered many upheavals; but has sustained with its character; and has retained its glory owing to the very strong foundations i.e. secularism, tolerance, unity in diversity on which rest the laurels of our country. Today if a dream long over due is being realized, it is again for those unshakable and time-tested principles of our nation. We salute all those people who have been directly or indirectly responsible for this day to happen.
With due permission of yours, I would like to shatter one myth surrounding AMU. That it is meant only for one community. It had never been so right from its inception in 1875. Histroy records the first graduate of MAO College as Ishwari Prasad, a non-Muslim. The AMU is one of the best examples of Hindu-Muslim Unity of the country. Anyone can himself experience that feeling in the mother campus of AMU at Aligarh. We hope that this branch at Kishanganj will surely bridge the gap between the backward and the forward, between the educated and the uneducated, and among the people of all communities.
Honourable Vice-chancellor sir,
Of late Kishanganj has been a happening, political hot-spot. Home constituency of many of the political who’s who. But unfortunately, very few of the glitterati ever reciprocated positively to the love and affection, unique to this soil, showered on them. One of the most backward districts in India, in terms of literacy in general and higher education in particular, Kishanganj shares its woes with the adjoining districts of Purnea, Araria, Katihar and Uttar Dinajpur. God forsaken and grossly abandoned by its glossy political representatives in the Parliament and state assemblies, this area has been receiving its more than fair share of injustice, discrimination and criminal negligence since long.
I share with you today, ladies and gentlemen, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment we still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the great Indian dream.
Today all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of the region, confer glory and hope to this newborn cause of AMU at Kishanganj.
Now is the time to make real the promises of Democracy.
Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of ignorance to the sunlit path of education.
Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all who have been promised right to education by the constitution of India.
Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of educational discrimination to the solid rock of knowledge and empowerment.
Honourable Vice Chancellor Sir,
I will not do justice with myself if I fail to convey one apprehension of the alumni. This is to protect and preserve the rich cultural traditions of AMU along with imparting quality education. To maintain the character which so very distinctly defines AMU.
You are standing on the threshold of a very tender and significant moment of AMU’s history with its branches likely to be opened at Murshidabad, Mallapuram and Kishanganj. We repose full faith on your grit and determination and strongly believe that you will manage to overcome all those difficulties that come your way.
Last, but not the least, the Kishanganj Public Reception Committee feels overwhelmed by your visit and extends on behalf of the education loving masses of the locality many more such invitations for future. We will indeed cherish any number of such visits which will surely take the task closer to its completion.
This is the hope. This is the faith with which we return to our homes. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our region into a beautiful symphony of knowledge. With this faith we will be able to work together, to struggle together, to stand up for freedom from the shackles of ignorance together, knowing that Kishanganj will be a hub of learning one day …………. very soon.
Thank you very much!
Mausoof Serwer
AMU Alumnus,
Kishanganj
