Exhorting students to take lead in launching a "new Aligarh movement", Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung today said that Aligarh Muslim University was the ideal launching pad for the new generation to take a fresh look on vital concepts like secularism and politics.
Jung was speaking here at the annual Sir Syed Day function of the over 90-year-old institution, which marks the birthday of Aligarh Muslim University founder Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.
AMU was the ideal launching pad for the new generation to take a fresh look on "vital concepts like secularism, nationalism, humanism and politics", Jung said.
Noted educationist from Middle East Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri called upon the nations of the East and all Asians to join hands forgetting differences of religion, creed and nationality and to face the challenges of the 21st century together.
Altwaijri blamed the "modern day colonial powers" for trying to "divide and rule" the people of the East for serving their selfish political interests.
He said if the people of the East are ready to imbibe the challenges posed by a new world order and are ready to live up to the ideals of "deeper humanism", then the countries of the west would never succeed in their age old policy of "divide and rule".
He said that the AMU is now poised to play a major role in building up a meaningful relationship between educational institutions in India and the Middle East.
During his address to the students and faculty of the AMU, Jung recalled the "close association" of his great grandfather Maulvi Samiullah Khan and grandfather Hameedullah Khan with the prestigious institution and expressed pride in addressing its Founder's Day celebrations.
"In today's world the privileges of birth and family become meaningless in the path of those who believe in themselves as achievers," he said, and called upon the students to "reach for the sky" and "become achievers".
Welcoming the guests, AMU Vice-Chancellor Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah said that the AMU was entering in a new era of its history and was aiming to take this institution to the highest level not only in the field of education but in the overall task of nation building.
