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Mahatma remembered at Aligarh Muslim University
The commemoration function of the 154th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was held at the Maulana Azad (MA) Library with enthusiasm and fervour on Monday.
Aligarh Muslim University, where Mahatma Gandhi was conferred honorary life membership of the students’ union on October 25, 1920, remembered the Father of Nation on his birth anniversary on Monday.
On the occasion, an exhibition was organised which had handwritten letters of the Mahatma, including the one addressed to Abdul Bari, an AMU old boy, dated July 29, 1942, and the one written to the general secretary of the AMU students’ union, on January 7, 1937.
“Such was the impact of ‘swadeshi’ movement of Mahatma Gandhi that noted Urdu poet and then a student of AMU, Hasrat Mohani opened a ‘khadi bhandar’ in Russelganj market of Aligarh,” said Dr Rahat Abrar, the former chairman of Urdu Academy at AMU.
The commemoration function of the 154th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was held at the Maulana Azad (MA) Library with enthusiasm and fervour on Monday.
Addressing a gathering of AMU teachers, students and other staff at the cultural hall of MA Library, AMU vice-chancellor, Prof Mohammad Gulrez said that Mahatma Gandhi was one of the greatest world leaders, who inspired Martin Luther King Jr, Dalai Lama, James Beve, James Lawson, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and Albert Einstein, among many others.
He said that even Winston Churchill had to acknowledge his error in calling Gandhi a ‘naked Fakeer’ after witnessing the success of the non-violence movement.
The vice-chancellor emphasised that India’s struggle for independence inspired decolonisation worldwide, underlining the global resonance of Gandhi’s principles. He urged the world to embrace Gandhiji’s values of compassion, interfaith peace, and the harmony of intellect and spirit.
Prof Gulrez later administered a pledge to work with dedication for preserving and strengthening the freedom and integrity of the Nation. Earlier in the day, the vice-chancellor inaugurated an exhibition of rare books and documents. The two-day long exhibition, open to visitors from 9 am to 5 pm, will conclude on October 3.
