Nashra Naim, a 22-year-old law student, created history on Friday by becoming the first woman vice-president of the Aligarh Muslim University Students Union (AMUSU) in an election that also saw the largest cohort of women candidates securing a place in the prestigious student body.
Naim, a fourth-year BA LLB student, got 7,091 votes in the election held on Thursday, defeating her nearest rival, Saqib Ali Khan who polled 5,818 votes.
Women candidates also won a record five of the 10 cabinet member posts, marking a significant increase in their representation in the students’ union from three elected in 2016.
“A woman needs to create space for herself and I created it for myself. We had very few days to campaign, limited resources and few people to support the campaign but whosoever joined me, joined with commitment and this zeal to succeed paid off at last,” Naim said.
She is the first woman candidate to win any AMUSU chair position – that of president, vice-president, or secretary. Since 1920, when AMU was established, no woman candidate has ever won a chair position at AMUSU.
The post of president was won by Mohammad Noman Ashraf, a PhD scholar, who secured victory by a margin of around 4,100 votes. Mohammad Hamdan,a BTech student, was elected honorary secretary by a margin of 1,502 votes.
AMU's student body
{{/usCountry}}The post of president was won by Mohammad Noman Ashraf, a PhD scholar, who secured victory by a margin of around 4,100 votes. Mohammad Hamdan,a BTech student, was elected honorary secretary by a margin of 1,502 votes.
AMU's student body
{{/usCountry}}AMU is among India’s top universities and the student body polls were held after an unprecedented gap of eight years, following protests by students over the past three years. The elections were announced on October 9 after student leader Yasir Fahad sat on a 19-day hunger strike.
AMU public relations officer Omar S Peerzada said nine candidates were in the fray for AMUSU’s president’s post, seven for vice-president, and three for honorary secretary. He added that 46 students filed nominations for the post of cabinet member, out of which seven were women.
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Here, five women won, including Hania Khan (8,266 votes), Areeba Dilshad (7,091 votes ), Shazia Shamim (6,332 votes), Anika Rumman Rahi (4,498 votes) and Shaheen Parween (4,098 votes), according to Peerzada.
AMU has a strength of around 38,000 students, out of which about 11,000 are women. All of them vote in the AMUSU polls.
Turnout and results
Separately, elections were held for the student union of the women’s college at AMU, which has 4,080 students.
Here, Anam Riyaz was elected president with 806 votes. Ayesha Khan secured the vice-president’s post with 1,090 votes. Maryam Jan was elected honorary secretary with 862 votes. Eight students were elected as cabinet members at WCSU. Juveriya Rehman topped the list with 1,485 votes, followed by Ameena Khanam (1,445), Hiba Manaal (1,325), Sabiha (1,251), Zakiya Murtaza (1,124), Khushboo Perween (1,118), Mehvish (1,081) and Fatima Hasan (1,079).
Turnout for the women’s college was 62.05% and the university union 74.65%.
The results were declared by professor Javaid Talib, chief election officer for AMUSU and AMU court elections, and professor Nazia Hasan, chief election officer for the women’s college union polls. “An encouraging feature of this year’s elections was the significant participation and representation of women,” Talib said.
In another first, two women students were elected as faculty representatives to the AMU Court, the university’s highest governing body. Amina Faizan was elected from the Faculty of Unani Medicine and Ilma Mashroof from the Faculty of Commerce.
Also Read I Nashra Naim makes history, becomes 1st woman AMUSU vice-president
AMU vice-chancellor professor Naima Khatoon congratulated the newly elected office bearers, cabinet members and court representatives. “Our students have once again shown how much they value the democratic process, and I am proud of the way they took part in it,” she said. She also welcomed the growing participation and representation of women, highlighting the importance of women’s empowerment.
No incident of violence was reported during the election campaign. Amina Irshad, the lone woman candidate for president’s post, lost. “Maybe not this time, but I am happy that I took the initiative to break the trend and filed my nomination. Someone needs to make a beginning, why not me?” she said.
A graduate of Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi, the 28-year-old is currently a research scholar at AMU’s department of economics.