Today, October 16, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Teachers Association and alumni organisations declared they will boycott all official Sir Syed Day celebrations tomorrow, October 17, Tuesday and observe Save AMU Day instead over the delay in appointing the next vice-chancellor, as stated in a report by PTI.
AMU has not had a permanent vice-chancellor (VC) since April when Tariq Mansoor resigned from the post following his nomination as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. Since then, Professor Mohammad Gulrez has been working as the Acting VC.
In a memorandum addressed to the President of India Droupadi Murmu, a joint coordination committee of the teachers' association and the alumni bodies sought her intervention in starting the process of appointing the next VC. Further, it alleged that norms and regulations were being side-lined and democratic bodies within the institution were becoming defunct.
Speaking more on this, AMU Students Association's former president and the convenor of the joint coordination committee, Azam Baig, said that hundreds of alumni and teachers of the AMU held a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on the evening of October 15, Sunday, and issued a call to observe Save AMU Day on Tuesday, October 17.
Further, he alleged that the university was facing an existential crisis because of policy paralysis in the absence of a regular vice-chancellor, as reported by PTI.
Aligarh Muslim University was established in 1920. It evolved out of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental, which was set up on January 7, 1877, by social reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
