The Hindu : New Delhi News : Scholar criticises AMU policy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 27, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Scholar criticises AMU policy

Staff Reporter

"One thoughtless act can destroy an institution''

NEW DELHI: Criticising the recent move for setting aside 50 per cent of all seats for Muslim candidates in Aligarh Muslim University, eminent historian, Irfan Habib, on Wednesday described it as a "political gimmick''.

At a meeting organised here, Prof. Habib said: "One thoughtless act of this kind can destroy an institution that has been built over the years. Once you take such a decision, you weaken the fight against communalisation and you go into the same camp as the Bharatiya Janata Party. They must realise that Hindu communalisation feeds on Muslim communalisation and vice-versa''.

During the meeting organised by SAHMAT to evaluate the United Progressive Alliance Government's performance over the past year with regard to combating "communalisation of education'' by the previous Government, he stated that although certain steps had been taken in the right direction, like withdrawal of "atrocious'' textbooks, "little positive'' had been achieved.

Not just the controversy over textbooks, Prof. Habib also criticised the functioning of the Archaeological Survey of India. "There is no professional head of ASI. There are many things that have been done completely unprofessional, including the report on Ayodhya. Why has that not been questioned? There has to be an enquiry into many issues,'' he said.

Arguing from the point of view of the economy, Prof. Prabhat Patnaik of Jawaharlal Nehru University said, "The UPA Government has embarked on financial sector liberalisation. This will have deep implications for the country. This is completely opposed to what the Left has always stood for. And in that situation, I don't know how long the UPA Government will last."

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi