Aligarh Muslim University: Vice Chancellors (1920-79) - Revision history

Pdewan at 21:52, 12 November 2020

2020-11-12T21:52:25Z

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2017-08-23T15:43:14Z

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Pdewan at 14:50, 23 August 2017

2017-08-23T14:50:56Z

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2016-01-12T20:52:00Z

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2014-11-15T18:21:51Z

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2014-11-15T18:21:11Z

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Pdewan at 17:58, 15 November 2014

2014-11-15T17:58:12Z

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2014-11-15T17:56:44Z

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Pdewan: Text replace - "Congres" to "Congress"

2014-05-25T15:15:32Z

Text replace - "Congres" to "Congress"

Pdewan: /* (iv) Syed Ross Masud (20.10.1929 to 1.10.1934) */

2013-06-21T15:49:09Z

‎(iv) Syed Ross Masud (20.10.1929 to 1.10.1934)

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 (e) As far as possible, names mentioned have been spelled as the persons concerned were spelling them
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 First Election in 1935:  when Ross Masud resigned in April 1934, the Court decided to appoint Nawab Mohammed Ismail Khan, then the Honorary Treasurer as officiating Vice Chancellor. There was a general feeling in the Press that he will be elected unopposed in the next meeting particularly as the Chancellor, Nawab Hamidullah Khan, the Ruler of Bhopal had made an appeal to that effect. It, however, appears that in view of the leading role played by Nawab Ismail in the Khilafat movement, the Government was rather apprehensive about a person of his political background heading a sensitive and politically important institution. At any rate, from contemporary Press reports it is clear that Sir Fazl-i-Husain a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council used his personal influence with the members of the Court to persuade them to accept Dr Ziauddin as their candidate.
-Around the same time rumours were spread that the Nawab was a ‘closet Congresman’ – a canard considering that Nawab Ismail was to play a leading role in the Pakistan movement. In the event, an election did take place and Dr Ziauddin managed to secure more votes than the officiating VC. An off-shoot of this episode was the resignation of the Chancellor who, in a communication to the Nawab of Chhatari, (who was trying to persuade the Chancellor to withdraw his resignation) mentioned that he found it totally unacceptable that someone who was found by an independent committee to be unfit to hold the position of the Pro Vice Chancellor should be found fit to be its Vice Chancellor. The resignation of the Chancellor became something of a cause celebre and was subject of considerable public interest and was covered for a long period by the Press particularly by The Hindustan Times. While there is hardly any direct incriminating evidence against Dr Ziauddin of personally using ‘underhand means’, there is little doubt that he acquiesced in the campaign to malign and spread disinformation about a public figure with a rare reputation for absolute integrity by friends and foes alike.
+Around the same time rumours were spread that the Nawab was a ‘closet Congressman’ – a canard considering that Nawab Ismail was to play a leading role in the Pakistan movement. In the event, an election did take place and Dr Ziauddin managed to secure more votes than the officiating VC. An off-shoot of this episode was the resignation of the Chancellor who, in a communication to the Nawab of Chhatari, (who was trying to persuade the Chancellor to withdraw his resignation) mentioned that he found it totally unacceptable that someone who was found by an independent committee to be unfit to hold the position of the Pro Vice Chancellor should be found fit to be its Vice Chancellor. The resignation of the Chancellor became something of a cause celebre and was subject of considerable public interest and was covered for a long period by the Press particularly by The Hindustan Times. While there is hardly any direct incriminating evidence against Dr Ziauddin of personally using ‘underhand means’, there is little doubt that he acquiesced in the campaign to malign and spread disinformation about a public figure with a rare reputation for absolute integrity by friends and foes alike.
 =====1938: An Unsuccessful Attempt=====
 The Unsuccessful Attempt of 1938; there were widespread allegations against the Vice Chancellor of making attempts to ‘pack’ the Court with his supporters from various ‘feeding zones’ so that he could obtain majority votes and be reelected. This time round, however, he was categorically advised by Mr. Jinnah to withdraw in favour of Sir Shah Mohammed Sulaiman, then a judge of the newly established Federal Court. It was widely believed that Mr. Jinnah had decided not to back Dr Ziauddin on account of fervent pleas of some leading members of the Muslim League; while the motive for the action of Mr. Jinnah is difficult to verify, it is a known fact that soon thereafter Dr. Ziauddin joined the Muslim League party in the central legislative Assembly.
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 ====(ix) B.F.H.B Tyabji (7.11.1962 to 28.2.1965)====
-Badruddin Faiz Hasan Badruddin Tyabji (1908-1995) – BFHB for short- was the grandson of his namesake, Justice Badruddin Tyabji, once a Judge of the Bombay High Court, and the first Muslim President of the Indian National Congres. His father Faiz Hasan Tyabji was a bit of a recluse who refrained from public life and retired as a judge of the Madras High Court. BFHB joined the Indian Civil Service (ICS) after education at Cambridge and served in the Punjab before he came to the Government of India a short while before independence.
+Badruddin Faiz Hasan Badruddin Tyabji (1908-1995) – BFHB for short- was the grandson of his namesake, Justice Badruddin Tyabji, once a Judge of the Bombay High Court, and the first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress. His father Faiz Hasan Tyabji was a bit of a recluse who refrained from public life and retired as a judge of the Madras High Court. BFHB joined the Indian Civil Service (ICS) after education at Cambridge and served in the Punjab before he came to the Government of India a short while before independence.
 He appears to have cultivated the future first Prime Minister and was instrumental in matters like selection of the present national flag. He opted to serve in India, which was no great sacrifice as his considerable inherited estate were located in the Ratnagiri District (Khem taluqa) of the then province of Bombay. Soon after independence he was ‘permanently seconded’ to the newly constituted Indian Foreign Service.
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 The Vice Chancellor clearly overawed the faculty as he had taken some of the ‘bad hats’ to task for lack of probity and moral turpitude. Tyabji and his charming wife Surayya – the daughter of Sir Akbar Hydri  - and their youngest son Khalid, a lad then of 7-8 years, were the cynosure of all youthful eyes in Aligarh. His two major achievements were (a) giving a real fillip to sports in the University and (b) to make efforts for employment of University students in the private sector which led him to confirm an honoris causa doctorate on Lala Bharat Ram of the Delhi Cloth and General Mills Company, who happened to be the Chairman of FICCI that year- it is quite a different story that while the Lalaji took the degree to heart, and insisted that he be unfailingly referred to ever thereafter as “Dr” Bharat Ram, he could offer no solatium to the bright youngsters of Aligarh!
-While Tyabji did not join public life immediately after his Aligarh stint, he did so a little later through the Muslim Majlis-i-Mushawrat not to much avail given his somewhat standoffish demeanour and general discomfort with the Urdu language. It also appears that his subsequent overtures to the Congres party were not positively received in view of certain reservations which Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed had about him . To be fair to him he was soon reconciled to not being cut out for the hurly burly of a brand of politics that was radically at variance with the early days of post independence arrangements of ‘patronized prominent Muslims’ could be sponsored as candidates from pocket boroughs of the ruling party (for instance, Maulana Abdul Latif, a senior functionary of the Jamiat ul ulama-i-Hind could represent Tripura in the first Parliament without ever visiting the constituency post election); seeing the writing on the new wall, Tyabji gracefully retired from that arena.
+While Tyabji did not join public life immediately after his Aligarh stint, he did so a little later through the Muslim Majlis-i-Mushawrat not to much avail given his somewhat standoffish demeanour and general discomfort with the Urdu language. It also appears that his subsequent overtures to the Congress party were not positively received in view of certain reservations which Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed had about him . To be fair to him he was soon reconciled to not being cut out for the hurly burly of a brand of politics that was radically at variance with the early days of post independence arrangements of ‘patronized prominent Muslims’ could be sponsored as candidates from pocket boroughs of the ruling party (for instance, Maulana Abdul Latif, a senior functionary of the Jamiat ul ulama-i-Hind could represent Tripura in the first Parliament without ever visiting the constituency post election); seeing the writing on the new wall, Tyabji gracefully retired from that arena.
 On purely objective considerations, his stint in Aligarh could at best be said to have contributed to orderly functioning of the institution. He kept himself strictly aloof from academic issues notwithstanding his frequent visits to the Departments- such visits were more in the nature of a Collector inspecting Police Stations in the days gone by. He was singularly lucky to have left a larger than life image thanks to his brief tenure. Lastly, an innocent generation of young Muslim aligs attaining puberty in the independent, post partition India,  found the contemporary Muslim society to be bereft of heroes barring the one of strictly cinematic variety (Yusuf Khan aka Dileep Kumar!). This generation lapped up the icon with his athletic physique, crisp upper class English accent, and with controlled accessibility to the acolytes. They were, in a way, imitating the generation gone by except that the latter had a somewhat wider choice in the matter.  Unlike the heroes of the past who failed to pass muster when exposed to demanding tests of political movements, he was fortunate to have avoided all tests post Aligarh.
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 In the AMU Act as it stood before 1981, the University could, implicitly, run its own institutions (including Colleges) within Aligarh District as its Act gave it jurisdiction within this area. From the 1950s onwards, demands were raised by the Bhartiya Jan Sangh that the local Dharma Samaj Degree College and Tikaram Girls College be affiliated to the University or, in the alternative, a quota be prescribed for ‘Aligarh candidates’ for admission to the institution. It may be explained that as the Act XL of 1920 created a ‘teaching and residential University’ it was not possible for these institutions to be affiliated to the University. The lack of affiliating jurisdiction ruled out the possibility being affiliated to AMU, while their managements had no wish to give up their control for the ‘impersonal benefit’ of changing the communal profile of the University.
-There appears to be some substance in the impression in some quarters that there was a concerted drive among ‘elements in the city’ for enrollment of a larger number of students passing the High School examination from various schools of Aligarh District to seek admission at the Intermediate/ Pre-University level in the University. It is clear that this was intended primarily to modify the ‘peculiar composition’ of the University. The move to have local affiliation did not succeed as, despite covert support of UP State level Congres leaders like Babu Sampurnanad and Chandra Bhan Gupta (who, incidentally hailed from Hathras, then a Tehsil of Aligarh District) students from conventional ‘catchment areas’ continued to throng the University.
+There appears to be some substance in the impression in some quarters that there was a concerted drive among ‘elements in the city’ for enrollment of a larger number of students passing the High School examination from various schools of Aligarh District to seek admission at the Intermediate/ Pre-University level in the University. It is clear that this was intended primarily to modify the ‘peculiar composition’ of the University. The move to have local affiliation did not succeed as, despite covert support of UP State level Congress leaders like Babu Sampurnanad and Chandra Bhan Gupta (who, incidentally hailed from Hathras, then a Tehsil of Aligarh District) students from conventional ‘catchment areas’ continued to throng the University.
 As a ‘preventive measure’, however, around 1958 the relevant rule was amended and a quota of seventy-five percent was prescribed for ‘internal candidates’ defined as those passing the qualifying examination from the University itself. This raised considerable controversy and was one, among several other, reasons that led to the formation of the Chatterjee Committee which indirectly recommended a dilution of this quota with other suitable measures to ‘maintain the distinctive character of the institution’. While the issue remained on the back-burner during the rest of ‘Zaidi era’, Tyabji decided to do something in the matter and proposed that while the ‘internal quota’ could be reduced to fifty-percent, a certain weightage may be given to candidates hailing from ‘distant States’ and it was assumed, quite reasonably, that candidates from such States would conform to the ‘distinct character of the institution’.
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 The point is that Dr Aleem had unusual intellectual origins. After a doctorate in Arabic literature from Berlin he started his career at Aligarh from where he shifted to Lucknow University in 1935 and gained prominence in its thriving leftist circles then presided over by stalwarts like Acharya Narender Deva and D.P Mukerji. He gained considerable recognition as an Urdu essayist and a progressive writer. His proximity to Dr Zakir Husain brought him back to Aligarh as part of the former’s efforts to infuse new academic blood in an institution denuded of much talent by the partition and seeking to find its feet in the changed scenario.
-Surprisingly, not much is authoritatively known about the appointment of Dr Aleem as Vice Chancellor- as far as this writer is aware, the file relating to his appointment does not survive in the Government. It is, however, clear that his choice was a compromise between various conflicting interests in which, possibly, Dr Zakir Husain played a decisive role. It may be recalled that the influence of left within the Congres party and the Government was still some way off as the rightist ‘Syndicate’ continued to hold sway; even Prof Nurul Hasan, a known left leaning historian and a junior colleague of Dr Aleem in Lucknow, was not yet a nominated Member of Parliament though his clout was clearly on the ascendant
+Surprisingly, not much is authoritatively known about the appointment of Dr Aleem as Vice Chancellor- as far as this writer is aware, the file relating to his appointment does not survive in the Government. It is, however, clear that his choice was a compromise between various conflicting interests in which, possibly, Dr Zakir Husain played a decisive role. It may be recalled that the influence of left within the Congress party and the Government was still some way off as the rightist ‘Syndicate’ continued to hold sway; even Prof Nurul Hasan, a known left leaning historian and a junior colleague of Dr Aleem in Lucknow, was not yet a nominated Member of Parliament though his clout was clearly on the ascendant
-It is also clear that there were other serious and deserving contenders from within the University like the late Professor Suroor and Prof A.R Kidwai another close associate of Zakir Sahib. In fact, within a few months of the appointment of Dr Aleem, Dr Kidwai was appointed a member of the Union Public Service Commission at the unusually early age of forty eight. Lastly, by late 1967, it had become clear to the government that the issue of AMU Act and, in particular its minority character, needed to be sorted out as the General Elections of 1967 had exposed major fissures in the committed Muslim vote bank of the Congres party and thus the need for a good Vice Chancellor was no longer necessary only to maintain peace and calm in a sensitive campus; it was also needed to prevent further Muslim disenchantment at least on account of ‘Muslim affairs’.
+It is also clear that there were other serious and deserving contenders from within the University like the late Professor Suroor and Prof A.R Kidwai another close associate of Zakir Sahib. In fact, within a few months of the appointment of Dr Aleem, Dr Kidwai was appointed a member of the Union Public Service Commission at the unusually early age of forty eight. Lastly, by late 1967, it had become clear to the government that the issue of AMU Act and, in particular its minority character, needed to be sorted out as the General Elections of 1967 had exposed major fissures in the committed Muslim vote bank of the Congress party and thus the need for a good Vice Chancellor was no longer necessary only to maintain peace and calm in a sensitive campus; it was also needed to prevent further Muslim disenchantment at least on account of ‘Muslim affairs’.
 There is no doubt that while Col Zaidi or even Dr Zakir Husain may have enjoyed a degree of leftist support, Dr Aleem was the first, and so far the only Vice Chancellor whom they could have claimed as ‘one of us’. Thus the new Vice Chancellor was in a situation of multiple contrasts. He was heading an institution that had regained ‘current’ political importance with the largest minority chafing under a feeling that the government had not done justice to one of its ‘chief assets’, while from across the communal fence, Government’s overtures regarding Aligarh were inviting the charge of ‘appeasement’.

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 ====(iv) Syed Ross Masud (20.10.1929 to 1.10.1934) ====
-Thankless Struggle
+=====Thankless Struggle=====
 Syed Ross Masud (1889-1937), the grandson of Sir Syed, was elected Vice Chancellor under rather unusual circumstances when he was away in England- the Court elected him in April 1929 while he joined only on 20th October. The unusual circumstances were that, despite an impeccable pedigree, he was unacceptable to both the major factions in the Court. While he had an old rivalry with Dr Ziauddin dating back to 1918 when he was initially preferred for appointment as Principal MAO College over the claims of the much senior future opponent as successor to Towle- the balance finally tilted in favour of Dr Ziauddin, when the Board of Trustees felt that Masud’s financial demands were in excess of what the College could afford.