Noted scientist Dr Rajeev Varshney has expressed concern over "decline" in tolerance level in the society at an "alarming pace".
His comments have come against the backdrop of a series of attacks, which were mostly driven by rumours related to beef consumption by another community.
"We should not let political leaders divide the society. Even eating habits are becoming an issue. Is this the society which our next generation is going to inherit?" he asked while addressing the concluding session of Aligarh Muslim University's two-day World Alumni Meet here yesterday.
Varshney, who is winner of the prestigious Dr Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award and presently a Director at the Centre of Excellence in Genomics, Hyderabad, said it was "unfortunate that today tolerance level in the society was declining at an alarming pace."
Participants at the event pledged support to their alma mater, which is celebrating the 200th birth anniversary of its founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in 2017.
On the occasion, industrialist Nadeem Akhtar Tarin announced setting up of a new Hall of residence to house 1,000 students, which is being funded entirely by the AMU Alumni Association, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Tarin also pledged to raise more funds to help constructing more halls of residence for boys and girls to accommodate another eight thousand students by the year 2020.
Earlier, the varsity released a souvenir listing names of distinguished alumni of the University. A book based on the essays written by a large number of alumni remembering their days as students at the University was also released.
More than 600 alumni, including those from the US, Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand, Fiji, Egypt and UAE, participated in the two-day conclave.
