AMU at the Crossroads

On January 5, the Allahabad High Court took away the minority tag from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). The court upheld its judgment in October last year terming as “unconstitutional” the grant of minority status to AMU and 50 per cent reservation to Muslims.

The judgment has sent shock waves in the Indian Muslim community. It coincides with the cold waves sweeping the country. This coincidence is, simply put, just a coincidence.

With this, more than any other time in recent years, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) faces a crossroads. One road leads to despair and utter hopelessness—many a requiem will be heard for the great loss to the community. The other, to total extinction. What is AMU without its minority tag? It’s like any other university in this vast country with the town’s name prefixed to the word ‘university’.

Now that the die is cast, and unless the Parliament indulges in some predictable pseudo-secular shenanigans, AMU’s fate is sealed. Put in its simplest form, the problem is: where does AMU go from here? This is a very difficult question when we realize that secularism and tokenism has failed us.

Let us take a leaf from history and try to cover our shame.

AMU was founded at a time when Muslims were facing a paradigm shift.

After 1857, the British had increasingly acquired a hostile attitude towards Muslims thanks to their role in the revolt. And they began favouring the Hindus because of their loyalty and better education. When Sir Syed Ahmed Khan established the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College, the precursor to AMU, he aimed to equip the Muslims (read the Muslim elites) with modern (Western) education to keep abreast of their Hindu counterparts. Times were a-changing, he reckoned. Over the decades, AMU became the bastion of Muslim intelligentsia and politics, especially of the north Indian Muslims. After India’s partition, AMU became the educational hub for the north Indian middle-class Muslims. Hordes of Muslim students—the sons and daughters of Muslim doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, traders, and even politicians—came to study at this great institution of learning, this Oxford of the East, contributing to its incremental decay by staying on to earn a Ph.D. and joining the faculty, practically shutting the door to talented outsiders.

Today, Muslims are again facing a paradigm shift. If we are to believe in the pronouncements of a prophet called Thomas L. Friedman, the world has become ‘flat’. Last heard, it was round. At Sir Syed’s time, it was definitely round. Much water has flowed down the muddy Ganges since then. The sun has set on the once mighty British empire, and what remains of it is a tenuous shadowy arrangement called the Commonwealth, with representation given to countries both rich and poor alike. India has become independent. Majority of the Muslim elite has shifted to Pakistan and Bangladesh. The cold war is over. The Babri Masjid has been demolished. Scores of communal clashes between Hindus and Muslims have taken place, so much so that there genuine experts exist in this field. The anti-Muslim BJP has been in and out of power. 9/11 has happened, and Saddam is out of power, waiting for the firing squad. In short, the world mistrusts, to use a word milder than hate, the Muslims.

In the changed circumstances, the question is: are we Muslims ready to take advantage of the situation? Let us starve the hatred and feed the internet.

The trouble is, our leaders have not adequately prepared us for a secular and meritocratic society. In the case of AMU, the perceived ‘minority tag’ fight is for the 2000 seats of the professional courses, out of which about 70% go to the Muslims, according to some expert calculations. After the minority tag is removed, all these seats will be open to all Indians, irrespective of religious denomination. Most probably, all the seats will go to the better-educated and better-prepared Hindu students. This is the greatest fear in whose grip the Muslim community finds itself today. Of course, only the likes of Narendra Modi and Bal Thackeray could beat this fear.

So, what is at stake here? Practically speaking, the Muslims would lose producing about one to two thousand professionals (primarily doctors and engineers) every year. Naturally, this would affect the supply of Muslim doctors and engineers to the Gulf countries and even to the Western countries. But at the moment, as mentioned before, the Western countries are better off without Muslim professionals. As far as Gulf countries are concerned, how long will the petroleum boom last? Soyabeen is being predicted to solve all fuel problems. Also, Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd and Dubai’s Sheik Maktoum are dead. Even Israel’s Ariel Sharon is not very well these days.

In any case, what are a few thousand Muslim doctors and engineers in a populous country like India? There are enough Non-Muslim doctors and engineers to take care of the millions. What the nation needs, especially from Muslims, are skilled hands—brass artisans, vegetable vendors, riskshaw pullers, domestic helps, and drivers. A few singers and Bollywood stars are acceptable once in a while.

Instead of facing these challenges, we turn instead to distractions like reservation and minority status. Reservations are for people from the exploited classes. Muslims, after all, were once the ruling class and hence, have been spared this ignominy in this great country. Also we tend to forget that we live in far too secular a society. We are a people who lack defined goals. We have never learnt to compete and excel. We lack leaders and coherent programmes.

Summing up, it is clear the future holds great opportunities for AMU and for the Muslim community (look at Jamia Miliia, Delhi; it has not done bad considering its lack of the ‘minority tag’). It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home to drink the evening tea.