In a letter written to the Vice Chancellor, the students also asked the University administration to clarify if the BJP members were invited because of pressure from the state government. “Please state if the administration received a Fax from the government (via the Proctor) to invite them (BJP MLAs) and please make the Fax public if that is the case,” the letter says. The students added that failing to explain or apologise, the administration will have to face the wrath of the government.

“Inviting people who promote and capitalise on communal politics to remember a person like Sir Syed is an insult to his memory and for the students of AMU. We have always stood against people and parties that seek to divide our society and this is no different. We have always prevented BJP members from entering the campus, this was clearly an attempt by the party to infiltrate the campus. They just came, sat and observed…did not even speak. What were they doing here?” asked Faisal Nadeem, a student of AMU while speaking to TwoCircles.net.
The other reason why the AMU students are angry at the invitation extended to the BJP is that just a couple of days ago when DU students had tried to organise a talk on Sir Syed’s Bicentenary celebrations, it was interrupted by members of the ABVP. Members of the ABVP called Sir Syed an anti-national and that he supported the two-nation theory. “At a time when we are remembering the great service that Sir Syed did to this nation, ABVP wants to drag his name also into the mud…as students of AMU, we will not let this happen,” Nadeem added.
What has irked the students of AMU the most is that the invite to BJP leaders comes at a time when the Sangh Parivar is on a mission to defame his legacy. A day after the BJP leaders came to the campus, the Hindu Mahasabha Unit of Aligarh also organised a programme on Sir Syed and used the platform to defame him and call him an anti-national. Protesting students alleged that the AMU administration had allowed itself to be used for BJP’s benefits. “We are against everyone that indulges in communal politics…we opposed Mulayam Singh Yadav also after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and this is no different. On one hand, their leaders come to ‘celebrate’ Sir Syed while their Parivar members defame him as and when they want,” said another student who refused to be named. He added that unless the University responds to their agitation, they will have to face the consequences of the protests.
 
Clarifying its stand on the issue, a message issued by the Aligarh Muslim University News, the official page of Public Relations Office of the AMU administration said, “A Minister was nominated by UP state government to be ‘Minister in waiting’ for visiting former President of India as part of protocol. The University was intimated by the district administration regarding the same. This standard protocol was followed at the SS Day function.”

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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The apex court also declined to de-tag another plea in which the appointment of the current VC has been challenged from the petition in which AMU’s status as a minority institution was held as unconstitutional by the Allahabad High Court.

Before dismissing the plea challenging the ongoing process on appointment of the VC after the retirement of the incumbent, a bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice N V Ramana took on record that the three shortlisted candidates fulfil the academic guidelines laid by UGC for the post.

AMU submitted that since it was a minority institution, it was not mandatory for it to adhere to the UGC guidelines but in the current process, all the three candidates out of the five, who were in the fray, fulfil the UGC guidelines.

A petition was filed earlier in the apex court challenging AMU’s selection process in appointing Lt Gen (Retd) Zameeruddin Shah as the Vice Chancellor of the university.
 

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ligarh, Jan 31 (PTI) The Aligarh Muslim University Teachers’ Association has accused the varsity’s executive council of flouting norms while drawing up names for the selection of the next Vice Chancellor, claiming that the list includes those facing “serious graft charges”.The AMUTA’s executive committee has also passed a resolution describing the manner in which the panel of five names was drawn up as “illegal”.

In an official statement today, the Secretary of the AMUTA, Mustafa Zaidi, alleged that UGC norms have been flouted brazenly by including names of persons facing “serious charges of graft” in the list and described it as “shocking”.
He also demanded that the Visitor order a probe into the matter.

“According to UGC regulations as well as Supreme Court judgment, there are clear cut directives not to consider names for the VC’s panel without the institution of a search panel which should be instituted in a meeting chaired by the Visitor’s nominee,” Zaidi said.

The UGC has also made it mandatory that a Vice Chancellor is selected only after the post is advertised.

Zaidi said even the Jamia Millia Islamia, which is a minority institution, follows these norms and AMU cannot flout these norms “in the guise that it is a minority institution”.

“The fact that the panel was drawn up unanimously is an indicator that democratic procedure, in which different members are permitted to voice their opinion, was not followed,” he alleged.

The AMUTA secretary also alleged that “norms were flouted” from last April itelf when the procedure was started.

On January 28, the AMU executive council had unanimously drawn up a list from which a panel of three names will be shortlisted by the University Court at its meeting scheduled for February 4.
 

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