Arjun hopeful minority character of AMU will be maintained

New Delhi, May 25 (UNI) Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh expressed optimism today that the Government will surpass all hurdles in maintaining the minority character of Aligarh Muslim University.

''We are involved in the struggle to maintain the minority character of the institution, about which Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan also was concerned. I am sure that inspite of all vicissitudes, the character and soul of AMU would be maintained,'' he said at a function marking the launch of a book on the AMU founder.

Speaking glowingly about Sir Saiyad and his struggle to free Muslims from the stranglehold of old ideas and habits through modern education, he remarked that the path the AMU founder chose was relevant even today.

The AMU is facing the same kind of challenges today that Sir Saiyyad faced in his lifetime after he conceived of the Muslim Anglo-Oriental College, he said.

''Some people have the same kind of old reactions which cloud the issues involved...To define an aproach to issues that concern society, that affects education and politics is of course a daunting task''.

Earlier, the Minister released a book called 'The Aligarh Movement' by journalist Tariq Hasan. Speaking on the occasion, the author regretted that the contribution of those associated with AMU and its alumni to the National Movement and national thought was being forgotten.

''In the last days of his life, the people closest to Mahatma Gandhi were nationalist Muslims,'' he observed.

The remark was later challenged by eminent historian Mushirul Hasan who pointed out that the category ''nationalist Muslim'' was a misnomer for people who actually were supporters of this or that political ideology.

''We don't speak of nationalist Hindus or nationalist Christians'', he pointed out, also taking exception to the use of the expression ''Muslim Mind'' in the book.

Indians of all religious affiliations were inheritors of a ''rich and mixed intellectual and cultural legacy'', he pointed out.

UNI NAZ/VN MSJ DB2129