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Author's father SYED AHSAN SHERE with DR. ZAKIR HUSAIN |
My four years of study at this great institution have produced memories and emotions which is beyond description. Aligarh Muslim University gives me a sense of wanting to leave a lasting impression, a legacy equivalent to that of the University's own cultured and physical being. Surrounded by such rich history, one is given the urgent sense of needing to carve out a future for yourself, if only metaphorically. This world renowned institution was founded by a great Muslim social reformer, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. He patterned this higher institution of learning after Oxford and Cambridge universities. It was he who felt the need for modern education and started a school in 1875 which later became the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College and finally Aligarh Muslim University in 1920. His primary objective was to build a college in tune with the British education system but without compromising its Islamic values and at the same time providing modern education to the people of India in general and Muslim's in particular. A number of prominent leaders, and Urdu writers and scholars of the Indian subcontinent have graduated from Aligarh Muslim University. During my time at this institution, Dr. Zakir Husain was the vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. He served as the fifth Vice-Chancellor from December 1st, 1948 to September 15th, 1956. He bcame the third president of Republic of India in 1967 and winner of "Bharat Ratna", the nation’s highest civilian honor. He was a great educationist and played a significant role organizing vocational educational system. While still in college, he translated Plato’s "Republic"( The "Republic" is the supreme product of Plato's most mature years, thought, and style and it contains virtually the entire universe of Plato's philosophy). Dr. Zakir Husain was one of the chief participants at the educational conference Mahatma Gandhi called in Wardha in 1937. He supported strongly Mahatma Gandhi's idea of vocational education and was entrusted with the task of drafting a syllabus for the new educational movement. He was later called upon to serve the University Education Commission, University Grants Commission, World University Service, the UNESCO and several other top educational establishments. His status among the intellectuals of the country became undisputed. During his three years of stay in Germany, he acquired a love for European art, literature and music. He was awarded a doctorate in economics from the University of Berlin. It was his experience as well as his deep study of the philosophy of education, which enabled him to take charge of the scheme of Basic National Education when it was launched in 1938. Dr. Zakir Husain was an imposing embodiment of culture and refinement. He had an intense passion for excellence. His varied tastes and hobbies, his collection of fossils, paintings and specimens of calligraphy, objects d'art, and curios and above all, his rich library ,critical to reading, research are evidence of his versatile personality. He was a personal and valued friend of my historian father and Museum Curator Syed Ahsan Shere an Algarhian in his own right. Both of them developed a common bondage and on regular basis discussed matter of mutual interest. Under his leadership, Aligarh Muslim University became a worldwide university, hiring well-known scholars from home and abroad. During his vice- chancellor - ship, the university vastly expanded its facilities, with laboratories, libraries, classrooms, and athletic facilities. Undoubtedly, Dr. Zakir Husain was a fearless crusader not only for educational reform, but for many of the goals of the progressive movement. As leader of the nation's best-known university, Dr. Zakir Husain was a celebrated figure whose opinions were sought and respected world - wide on a wide variety of matters. Aligarh Muslim University does not train you to be any one thing. At this great institution "you learn to learn", and to be really good at whatever you decide to do.
Source "Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"
About the Author: WARIS SHERE was educated at the
Aligarh Muslim University, University of London and Technische Hochschule, Aachen Germany. He has authored eight books in the field of Applied Mathematics, International Affairs and Academic Futures: Prospects for Post-Secondary institution. He has taught Applied Mathematics at the University of Manitoba, Canada and Red River College, Canada for several years. His work on critical issues of International Affairs has been published globally. His main interests are Emerging International Order, Security and the Prospects for East-West relations and Dilemmas in Policy-Making for Education.
