Aligarh April 14: Professor Javeed Alam, Chairman, Indian Council of Social Research delivered the Professor M. Athar Ali Memorial Lecture organized by Aligarh Historians Society (AHS).
Addressing a packed audience in the Lounge of Arts Faculty, Professor Alam presented an analysis of the theme of democracy and the socialist project. He defined democracy as an environment in which labour from being an obligation of necessity could become a source of pleasure and this could not be attained under capitalism. He said that while recognizing this, it was important not to abandon or belittle the significance of civil liberties and self governing rights already attained under bourgeois democracy, not as a gift of the bourgeois but as gains hard won by the people. Prof. Javeed Alam said that socialism must preserve what has been attained while rejecting monopoly over property that has come to be concentrated in a few hands under the capitalistic social structure. Prof. Ahmad warned that while considering the experiences of erstwhile USSR and socialist China, the socialism ought not t be merely duplicated in the construction of an exploitation free socialist society of the future.
Earlier Prof. Shireen Moosvi, Secretary, Aligarh Historians Society, highlighted briefly the Prof. M. Athar Ali's main academic concerns and introduced the distinguished speaker. As President of the Society, Prof. Irfan Habib, Professor Emeritus, Aligarh Muslim University while making the concluding remarks on the lecture, underlined the importance of the theme that Prof. Javeed Alam had chosen to set out his thoughts on. A lively discussion followed the lecture. The faculty and students were present on the occasion in an impressive number.
(Zeeshan Ahmad)
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