AMU’s 63rd convocation celebrates academic achievements

ALIGARH — Aligarh Muslim University’s (AMU) 63rd convocation celebrated the academic achievements with fanfare on Feb. 27, 2016 at the Gulistan-e-Syed of the University. Interventional cardiologist Ashok Seth and CEO of FI Investment Group, US, Frank Islam — both university alumni — were given honorary DSc degrees in recognition of their achievements in their respective fields, along with young students who were awarded 207 medals, 600 MPhil and PhD degrees as well as 5,000 graduate and post-graduate degrees. AMU chancellor Azamat o Sultan Al Bohra Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, who had come from Mumbai with over 500 Dawoodi Bohra community members, presided over the function. Syedna Saifuddin has a very cherished bond with the university. His grandfather Syedna Tahir Saifuddin was chancellor from April 12, 1953 to April 28, 1965. Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin's father Syedna Burhanuddin also served the university from 1999 to 2002. "It is an Islamic duty to remove the darkness of ignorance with the light of wisdom. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's vision, determination and dynamism led to the establishment of this great institution. It is imperative for all of us to receive significant education and work on propagation of knowledge like Khan did. We should work with determination and passion to make our country a better place," the chancellor said in his address to the gathering. Syedna Mufadda Saifuddin also initiated the restoration work of STS School, named after his grandfather Syedna Taher Saifuddin. Included in International Heritage, the STS School, which stands as a feeder institution to the AMU, would be restored by Dawat e Hadiya, Badri Mahal, Mumbai, under the guidance of Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin. Syedna had gifted 1,000 computers to the university. Reading from the university's annual report released at the event, Vice-Chancellor Zameer Uddin Shah (retd) said AMU had been getting good rankings in most of the ratings. "The US News and World Report ranked AMU as the second-best Indian university. We carried out 300 research projects, organized more than 100 international and national seminars and conferences. Faculty members published more than 2,500 papers and around 150 books," Shah said, adding that Nobel laureate Takaaki Kajita would be available at the 64th convocation on Nov. 1 this year. — Syed Mussarat Khalil