President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday inaugurated the campus of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Centre at Jangipur, Murshidabad, in West Bengal.
Speaking on the occasion, the President recalled that while laying the foundation stone of the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College, now known as AMU, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had envisioned that "From the seed which we sow today, there may spring up a mighty tree whose branches like those of Banyan of the soil, shall in their turn strike firm roots into the earth and themselves send forth new and vigorous sapling".
The President asserted that the AMU Murshidabad Centre is a true example of the sapling that has sprouted to extend education.
The President said AMU, one of the oldest Central Universities, has produced innumerable students who have established themselves in various fields of life.
He said that a large number of students from the Murshidabad region migrate to AMU because of its academic excellence. It is to serve such students that a campus of AMU in Murshidabad has come up.
The President also said that knowledge is power, and added thatpeople are empowered through education and able to carve out their unique place in life.
Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan; Lok Sabha MP Abhijit Mukherjee and Vice Chancellor of AMU Lt. Gen. (Rtd) Zameer Uddin Shah.