Students of the National Academy of Legal Studies And Research (NALSAR) University of Law, Hyderabad on July 30 bid adieu to Professor (Dr) Faizan Mustafa, who was the Vice-Chancellor of the University for 10 years, with bouquets, thank you speeches and a whole lot of love and respect on social media too.
Around 300 students and faculty, with an additional 100 students, including alumni joining online, conducted an open house to give an emotional send-off to the professor who marked the end of his tenure as VC of the University on Saturday, July 30.
“Among other things, he was most famous for his one-liners,” said Rithvik Reddy, a member of the Student Bar Council (SBC) at the University. This was immediately evident to us when we found out that while recalling the time he took over the reins of NALSAR in 2012, the VC shared at the open house, "I took over at 4 am in the darkness of the night, I am going in broad daylight” Not to forget, the VC has his own YouTube channel called Faizan Mustafa's Legal Awareness Web series: LAW's and he writes erudite columns for publications.
His student-centric approach
While listing out many concrete steps that the Professor took in favour of the student community, Rithvik said, “He reduced the stress on students by introducing credit based system, wherein, students could choose the subject they wanted. Additionally, at that point in time, there was a 95 per cent attendance requirement for students. Students had pointed out that this was a huge burden…so this was reduced and now we have a 75 per cent requirement.”
The student also recalled that the style of administration under the professor was mainly student-oriented as students were involved in the regulation drafting process as well. “The idea behind this was that if we are responsible for our rules and regulations, then the implementation would be high and people would follow them,” he said. Even if there were any infrastructural changes, students were always involved. “Our opinions, our feedback was always taken in any of the processes,” he added.
Like for most of us, the COVID-19 pandemic led to several mental health challenges among the student community too. But students of the University said that their concerns were taken into consideration during this time as well. “Our evaluation pattern was broken up into four components to reduce the stress on students and this was also done in consultation with the students,” said Rithvik.
Always a WhatsApp message away
Students also said that the professor was always very approachable. “His door was always open and his phone number was circulated among all students,” said Yashwanth Samayam, a student of the University. In fact, students would text him directly on WhatsApp in case of an emergency. “There was never a bureaucratic procedure that one had to follow to get through to him,” he added.
In fact, three months ago, to add to their desperate efforts to keep a hold of their VC, the students of the University had also filed a “petition” that was also posted on legallyIndia (A website that posts information relevant to the Indian legal industry) requesting that Professor Faizan Mustafa should be considered for re-appointment to the position, which received about 600 to 700 signatures, according to students.
Ashish James, who is now an alumnus of the University was among those who drafted the petition when he was still a student. “The general culture that was propagated inside the University was of freedom. Intellectual and academic progress could only be possible with freedom,” he said. He added that the administration did not try to control them and treated them like adults which was unlike most other colleges in the country.
First Dalit President for SBC
Among his multiple contributions to the University, students also appreciated the fact that NALSAR had its first Dalit president as well as its first woman president in the SBC during Prof Mustafa's term.
Many students also took to social media platforms to bid farewell to the Professor. “If you are lucky enough to be a student at his NALSAR, however, you know the real Prof. Mustafa - the man who is leaving behind a legacy of unconditional love for his students and from his students,” said Ankita Gupta, a student of the University, on Twitter.
Others showed their admiration for him by sharing their pictures with the professor and saying that he set the perfect example when it comes to governing a University. “An incredible loss- not just to NALSAR, but to legal academia as a whole. He set an example for governing and administering university with care, was a brilliant scholar in his own right and someone who shaped public debates fearlessly. Here was a Caesar, when comes such another!,” said Rohin Bhatt, a law student on Twitter.
