Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the centenary celebrations of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) through video conferencing on Tuesday. During the event, the Prime Minister released a postal stamp.
In his speech, the PM said his government’s schemes for the poor were reaching all sections “without any religious bias” and asserted that when it came to the nation’s progress and development, it was important to set aside ideological differences.
“Whatever religion we are born in, it is important to see how to blend our aspirations with national goals. There can be ideological divides in society but when it comes to the nation’s development, everything else is secondary. When it comes to the nation, there is no question of ideological differences. It is logical for me to say this here because AMU produced many freedom fighters – they had their ideological differences but they set that aside for freedom. Like freedom united them, we have to work on common ground for ‘Naya Bharat’,” he said.
“The history of education attached to AMU buildings is India’s valuable heritage…I often meet AMU alumni during my foreign visits, who very proudly say that they’ve studied from AMU,” PM Modi said.
Praising AMU for its work during the pandemic, he said, “The way AMU helped society even during this crisis of Corona is unprecedented.”
“The plans that the country is making today are reaching every section without distinction of religion,” he added.
AMU Chancellor Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin and Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank are also present at the event.
This is the first time in five decades that a prime minister has attended an AMU event as the chief guest. The last time a prime minister attended an event at AMU was Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964. Before him, prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had visited the AMU four times.
Nehru had visited the campus for first time in 1948, when an honorary doctorate was conferred on him at the annual convocation, followed by visits in 1955, 1960 and 1963.
PM Modi highlighted that in the last 100 years, AMU has also worked to strengthen India’s relations with many countries of the world.
Earlier, the school drop out rates of Muslim girls was 70 per cent because there were no toilets in school campuses.
“With the construction of toilets in the school and college campuses, the drop out rate has been reduced,” PM said.
He added, “The female enrolment rate of AMU has increased to 35 per cent which is commendable.”
“Bank accounts of over 40 crore poor opened without any discrimination. Without discrimination, more than 2 crore poor were provided pucca houses and more than 8 crore women get gas without discrimination.”
PM Modi asked parties not to see development through a political prism. He said, “Politics can wait but development cannot.”
PM Modi also invited suggestions from students of AMU to achieve the goal of ‘Vocal for Local’, New India, Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
He also said that various alumni of AMU had actively contributed to the freedom struggle of India, despite their differences of ideologies.
Lauding university’s heritage, he called AMU a ‘mini’ India.
