President of India Droupadi Murmu appointed Prof Mazhar Asif as the new Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) on Thursday, October 24, according to the Union Ministry of Education.
The appointment, made under the powers conferred by the Statutes of the Jamia Millia Islamia Act, 1988, was communicated through a letter from Shreya Bhardwaj, Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, to the Registrar of JMI, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
Prof Asif (53), currently a distinguished faculty member at the School of Languages at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi, will assume his new role for a term of five years. His tenure will last until he either completes the five years or reaches the age of 70, whichever comes first as per the university protocol.
Professor Asif is well-known for having knowledge of as many as seven languages including Assamese, Bhojpuri, English, Hindi, Persian, Urdu and Vajjika. Also, he has authored seven books as well including, Aitihasic Patabhumit Asomor Aitijyamandita Islamdharmi Sakal (History of Assamese Muslims) and Tarikh-e-Aasham (A Persian chronicle).
Notably, the post of Vice-Chancellor was lying vacant since Najma Akhtar's tenure which ended on November 12, 2023.
Prof Mohammad Shakeel has been serving as the Officiating Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia from May 22, 2024, until the appointment of the new VC. Perhaps it was the first time in Jamia that the university's major post is being occupied by an interim officer for such a long time.
According to one of the sources from Jamia, "In earlier cases, the education ministry has taken a maximum of six months to appoint a regular vice-chancellor but in this case when an officiatis running the varsity for almost a year now is something which has not happened before."
Meanwhile, Professor Asif's name was making rounds for the past one week as the new Jamia VC and perhaps the ministry was waiting for the President to return to Delhi to make this announcement.
According to Prof Mazhar's profile on JNU's website, he is a member of the drafting committee for the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and serves on the National Monitoring Committee for Education. He has also been part of a National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) peer review team. He holds a teaching experience of 27 years and an administrative experience of ten years.
Professor Mazhar Asif however could not be contacted despite repeated calls.
