Volume 3, Number 1, January 2012 Aliah University Newsletter Advisors:

Professor. Syed Samsul Alam, Vice-Chancellor Professor. Sudip K. Banerjee

Editor : Dr. Amzed Hossein

Publication Co-ordinators : Dr. Harun Al Rasid Gazi, Mukandar Sekh

Published by :

Publication Section, Aliah University DN 47, Sector-V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata - 700 091 Phone : 033 2706 2125 / 2271 / 2583 Website : www.aliah.ac.in Volume 3, Number 1, January 2012

Contents

Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad 2 Architect of Modern Indian Education System Professor Syed Samsul Alam

Relevance of Madrasah Education in India 19 Dr. Anowar Hossain

Carbon Nanotubes 22 Application in Modern Science Dr. Sk. Faruque Ahmed

Maulavi Bhai Girish Chandra Sen 24 Dr. Shabnam Begum 27 University News The Hon’ble Chief Minister Smt. Mamata Banerjee Lays the Foundation Stone of Aliah University Campus

Seminar 28 Aliah Faculty and Students at the 4th Science Conclave at IIIT, Allahabad

Students’ Seminar at the Department of English

Achievements 30 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Architect of Modern Indian Education System

Professor Syed Samsul Alam Azad, Sheikh Muhammad refused to do Kornish Vice Chancellor (obeisance) to the Emperor as, in his view, it did not behove the learned to lay prostrate before wealth. Born on 11 November, 1888, in a divine Sufi family of He refused to bend his knees to Baal and was Maulana Khairuddin and to his Arab wife, Aliyah, as sentenced to be imprisoned in the fort of Gwalior for one of their five children, who was given the chrono- four years. “I am the ninth of tenth in paternal grammatical name of Firoz Bakht (of exalted descent from Sheikh Jamaluddin", Azad said to destiny), but was commonly called Ghulam Mahadeo Desai, one of his earlier biographers, “.... I Muhiyuddin Ahmad, and later came to be known as can say that there wasn't one of my ancestors, but Abul Kalam Azad. Maulana Azad had combined in was noted for his learning and Sufism.” him scholarly pursuits, sturdy independence of It also remained a kind of family tradition not to character, and a distinct mental bent towards accept any office or position of power; but Shaikh unworldliness. He was one of the foremost leaders of Sirajuddin, a great grandfather of Maulana Azad, Indian freedom struggle, an icon of secular accepted the position of a Chief Judge and broke the nationalism in modern-day India, and one of the tradition. Another of his ancestors Mohammad most prominent Muslim leaders to support Hindu- Hadi was appointed by Shahjahan to be the Muslim unity, opposing the partition of India on Governor of Agra Fort. His father's maternal communal lines. A renowned scholar, poet, author, grandfather, Maulana Munawaruddin, was one of journalist, politician, and well-versed in many the last Rukn-ul-Mudarrasin (literally meaning languages, he was a brilliant debater, as indicated by pillar of the teachers/professors) of the Mughal his name, Abul Kalam, which literally means 'lord of period. This post had been first created in dialogue'. He adopted the pen name 'Azad' (free) as a Shahjehan's time and was intended to supervise the mark of his mental emancipation from a narrow view activities of the State for the promotion of learning of religion and life. Maulana Azad became and scholarship. The officer had to administer gifts independent India's first education minister. of lands, endowments and pensions to scholars and teachers and could be compared to a Director of Ancestry Maulana Azaad's forefathers had come from Herat Education in the modern world. Mughul power had (a city in Afghanistan) to Mughal India during the by that time declined but these major posts were still reign of the Mughal emperor Babur (nearly 500 retained. Maulana Azad's father, Maulana Muhammad years ago). They first settled in Agra and then Khairuddin (1831-1908), a scholar-sufi of Persian moved to Delhi. He took pride in tracing his birth (Tajik) origin, was then living in Calcutta. from an ancestor, Sheikh Jamaluddin (or Maulana Khairuddin's father died while he was still very Jamaluddin), who earned a name for himself during young and he was brought up by his maternal the reign of Emperor Akbar. Maulana Jamaluddin grandfather, Maulana Munawaruddin (1787-1857), was a profound scholar and a religious divine of a famous 'alim' of Delhi. The family lived in Bengal great repute, having to his credit a number of books until the First Indian War of Independence (the which are held in high esteem to this day and among Sepoy Mutiny) broke out (in 1857). Two years before which is the celebrated commentary on the most the Mutiny, Maulana Munawaruddin was trustworthy text of Hadith (Islamic Traditions), and disgusted with the state of affairs in India and recognized as an authority by which most Muslim decided to migrate to Makkah, the holiest city in divines swear. Jamaluddin revolted against the Islam. His grandson - from daughter's side - innovation of Akbar's Din-i-Ilahi, thus incurring the Maulana Khairuddin also accompanied him. When displeasure of the Emperor. He was patronized by Munawaruddin reached Bhopal, Nawab Sikandar Akbar's foster-brother, Mirza Aziz Kokaltash, but Jehan Begum detained him. The Mutiny started anticipating trouble in future, he left for Makkah. while he was still in Bhopal and for two years he This first known ancestor of Maulana Azad left the could not leave the place. He then came to Bombay proud legacy of Satyagraha for him. Later on, in the but he could not go to Makkah as death overtook times of Jehangir, another ancestor of Maulana him there. Khairuddin was then about twenty-five. giving him an education of the modern type; he held He proceeded to Makkah, built a house for himself, that modern education would destroy religious and settled there. In Makkah, he came into the faith. Because of Azad's conformist family attention of a very famous religious scholar, Shaikh background, his education was arranged in the old Mohammad Zahir Watri, in his time Madina's best traditional manner; he did not go to any Madrasah known 'Alim' whose fame had travelled outside or school, nor did he attend any modern western Arabia, and married his daughter Aliyah. Maulana educational institution. There was of course the Azad was born in 1888 in the holy city of Makkah. Calcutta Madrasa, but his father did not have a very high opinion of it. (Azad, 1959) He was taught at Maulana Khairuddin's life and temperament were home, first by his father and later by appointed coloured by stoic simplicity and contemplation of the teachers who were eminent in their respective Sufis. He wrote numerous books both in Arabic and fields. Azad learned Arabic, Persian, Hanafi fiqh, Persian. He gained much fame in the Muslim world and shariat first and then philosophy, mathematics, for his ten-volume work on Islam in Arabic which and science. The medium was Arabic. was published in Egypt and for his central role in the restoration of the famous Zubeida Canal (Nahr-e- Students who followed the traditional system of Zubeida), main source of water for the people of education normally finished their course at the age Makkah, constructed by Begum Zubeida, the wife of between twenty and twenty-five. This included a Khalifa Harun al-Rashid. In course of time, the canal period when the young scholar had to teach pupils had deteriorated and there was a great shortage of and thus prove that he had acquired mastery over water in the city. This scarcity was acutest during the what he had learnt. Abul Kalam was able to complete Haj and pilgrims had to face great difficulties. the traditional course of higher Islamic education by Maulana Khairuddin had this nahr repaired. He the time he was sixteen, nine years ahead of his raised a fund of twenty lakhs in India, Egypt, Syria, contemporaries, and his father got together some and Turkey and improved the canal in such a way fifteen students, most of whom were twice his age, to that the Bedwin did not have an opportunity of whom he taught higher philosophy, mathematics, damaging it again. In recognition of his services, he and logic in addition to Islamic Theology. Later he was awarded the First Class Majidi Medal by the learnt English, world history, and politics through Turkish Emperor Sultan Abdul Majid. self-study. At ten Abul Kalam was well-versed in the Quran and at seventeen he was a trained theologian Some time back Maulana Khairuddin had fallen recognized in the Islamic world. down in Jedda and broken his shin bone. It had been set, but not well, and he was advised that the His early influences were Maulana Shibli Nomani surgeons in Calcutta could put it right. He had (June 3, 1857, Bindwal, Azamgarh district, Uttar intended to stay only for a short time but his disciples Pradesh, India - November 18, 1914, Azamgarh), a and admirers would not let him go. A year after he versatile scholar in Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Turkish, came back to Calcutta with his family in 1899 his wife and Urdu and Altaf Hussain Hali (1837, Panipat, died and was buried there. Haryana, India - 1914), a great poet, prose-writer, critic, teacher, reformer, a student of Mirza Ghalib, Thus, Abul Kalam Azad's family descended from a and a close friend of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. line of eminent Ulema or scholars of Islam and he His Arab mother knew very little Urdu; therefore, inherited from both of his parents the grand legacy of Muhyuddin had to converse most of the time in learning. He was a most worthy scion of an Arabic with his parents and his brother and sisters. extraordinary family with roots deep in the duality - Abul Kalam was only eleven when his mother Indian and pan-Islamic - to which South Asia's passed away. Two years later, when Azad was only Muslims have been historically linked both thirteen, his father got him married to Zulaikha psychologically and culturally. Among Indian Begum, (d. 1943), (Gandhi, 1986) the second Muslims who were still wistful over a lost empire, daughter of his father's spiritual disciple, Maulavi and reeling from the excesses of British colonization, Aftabuddin. According to his sister Fatima Begum, it is hard to envision a family with better credentials Azad kept crying at the time of his marriage saying than Maulana Azad's. why he was being taken to the women's apartment. Zuleikha Begum also had a good schooling in Urdu Early life and Persian and knew elementary Arabic. She was an Maulana Azad belonged to highly respected accomplished lady, well versed in household affairs Muslim family known for its scholarship, religious and was of a very hospitable nature. She took good pursuits, and royal connections. His father had no care of Maulana Azad and evinced keen interest in faith in western education and never thought of his books and writing. Azad and Zuleikha had a son An avid and determined student, Azad was running named Husain who died at the age of four. a library, a reading room, a debating society before he A young man, Azad was also exposed to the modern was twelve. He wanted to write on the life of Ghazali intellectual life of Kolkata, the then capital of British- at twelve and was contributing learned articles to ruled India and the centre of cultural and political Makhzan (the best known literary magazine of the life. At around sixteen (in about 1904-1905), he came day) at fourteen. In the field of journalism, he started across the writings of Muslim educationist Sir Syed publishing a poetical journal Nairang-e-Aalam in Ahmad Khan and his views on science, philosophy, 1899 and became an editor of a weekly Al-Misbah in and literature. In fact, the need for the study of 1900, at the age of twelve and, in 1903, brought out a English was felt by him at that time. Maulvi monthly journal, Lissan-us-Sidq, which soon gained Mohammed Yusuf Jafri, who was then the chief popularity. Azad compiled many treatises examiner of the Oriental course of studies, taught interpreting the Qur'an, the Hadith, and the him the English alphabet and gave him Peary Charan principles of Fiqh and Kalam. (Islam, 2006) Sarkar's First Book. Keeping it a secret from his All these things made him so popular at a very early father, he learned English through intensive personal age that people meeting him for the first time were study. Very soon, he started reading the English shocked at his tender age and had to be reassured newspapers with the help of a dictionary. He began that they were meeting the real Maulana Azad. On to read the Bible, comparing the English version with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Sarojini Naidu said, those in Persian and Urdu. “He was forty at the time he was born”. This was The closed life in his family imbued with religion and mainly due to the fact that Azad had acquired fame religious traditions began to irk him so much so that through his journalistic writings and had impressed he began to move out of his family and seek his own people as much by his lofty and inspiring message path. The inter-sect differences among the Muslims as by his interpretation of Islam. and the orthodox schools made him skeptic of Azad was trained and educated to become a religion itself. He was haunted by all sorts of doubts clergyman. He wrote many works, reinterpreting the and questions. Azad refused to be tied to inherited Holy Quran. His erudition led him to repudiate beliefs and declined to succeed his father as a Taqliq or the tradition of conformity and accept the religious preceptor. In fact, he began to doubt the principle of Tajdid or innovation. Immersed in the traditional ways of his father and secretly diversified closed world of learning, Azad longed for an escape his studies. He had picked up sufficient knowledge from the unusually rigorous scholastic atmosphere of the English language to enable him learning of his strictly religious family and to become a free Western philosophy, history, and contemporary man. He could not get peace by just reading Islamic politics by reading advanced books and modern history and theology and preaching it to the faithful. periodicals in English. Azad mastered several He developed interest in the pan-Islamic doctrines of languages, including Pashtu, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Jamaluddin Afghani and the Aligarh school thought Hindi, English, Hindko (language of the North-West of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Frontier Province of British India), Bengali, French, and Turkish. Referring to his early education, The first major turning point for Azad came after the Maulana Azad told the Patna University graduates partition of Bengal, when he rejected the mainstream on 21 December 1947: of the Muslim middle class, which wanted partition “I am not indebted to English college or school. I was and considered the colonial government as its brought up in a family where the old traditions of benefactor. Repudiating it, he associated himself Indian learning and culture prevailed and there with the anti-British Movement. could not be the slightest trace of English education. Whatever education I received as a student was In 1908 (at the age of 20), after his father's death, Arabic and Persian and was imparted in the old style. imbued with the pan-Islamic spirit, he visited France I came to learn English much later by self-study only. and some Islamic countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, From this it will be clear to you that my educational Egypt, Syria, and Turkey and met a number of connection with English is not of the same type as groups, the young Turks, the Arab nationalists yours.” (Singh and Samiuddin, 2003) (This should be (including Christians), and the prominent leaders of an eye-opener for today's students.) the pan-Islamic Movement who wanted to throw Still in his teens, using the pseudonym Abul Kalam away the yoke of imperialism to free the Arab Azad, Muhiyuddin acquired a high reputation for countries. In Iraq, he met the exiled revolutionaries his writings on religion and literature in the standard who were fighting to establish a constitutional Urdu journals of that time; he composed poetry in government in Iran. In Egypt, he met Shaikh Urdu as well as treatises on religion and philosophy. Muhammad Abduh and Saeed Pasha and other revolutionary activists of the Arab world. He had a British rule. But he did not approve of the Congress first hand knowledge of the ideals and spirit of the movement on account of its slowness; also he could Young Turks in Constantinople. The tour proved not join the Muslim League whose political goal he very useful to Azad to crystallize his thoughts on the found unpredictable. neo-colonialists who were exploiting those countries Events such as the partition of Bengal effected by and how India could help them. All these contacts Lord Curzon in 1905 and the writings and activities had a profound and decisive influence on Azad's of Aurobindo Ghosh, and his paper Karmayogin political thinking and metamorphosed him into a began to stir the people to their depths. On his return nationalist revolutionary. from abroad, Azad met the revolutionary leader of Bengal Shyam Shundar Chakravarty and, through Soaked in Islamic tradition and with many personal him, Aurobindo Ghosh and joined the revolutionary contacts with prominent Muslim leaders of Egypt, movement against British rule even though in those Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and Iran, Maulana days the revolutionary groups were recruited Azad was profoundly affected by political and exclusively from the Hindu middle classes. In fact all cultural developments in those countries. He was the revolutionary groups were then actively anti- known in Islamic countries probably more than any Muslim. This was because the partition of Bengal by other Indian Muslim. the British Government was thought to be a move directed against the Hindus. They saw that the Revolutionary and Journalist British Government was using the Muslims against The 'extra-curricular' reading and particularly that of India's political struggle and the Muslims were the writings of Sir Syed Ahmed led to a mental crisis playing the Government's game. The British in Azad. He was trained and brought up in a strict Government thought that no Hindu officer could be religious family where any deviation from orthodox fully trusted in dealing with these revolutionary ways of life was unimaginable and all the activities, and, therefore, they brought some Muslim conventions of traditional life were to be accepted officers from UP. (Singh and Samiuddin, 2003) Quite without any question. However, his 'extra' readings naturally, Azad greatly surprised his fellow Hindu made him disturbed and he began to ask himself: “If revolutionaries with his willingness to join the religion expresses a universal truth, why should freedom struggle. At first his peers were skeptical of there be such differences and conflicts among … his intentions and they looked upon his entry in the different religions? Why should each religion claim revolutionary circles with suspicion and distrust. to be the sole repository of truth and condemn all But Azad convinced them that they were wrong in others as false?” (Huq, 2006) imagining that “Muslims as a community, were their Gradually, in the matter of religion, Azad, a product enemies and that they could not generalize from their of traditionalism, reached the point where he wanted experience of a few Muslim officers in Bengal.” to combine reason (aql) and revelation (ilm). Azad Because of his West Asian background, he told the grew disillusioned with Islamic teachings and was revolutionaries that in Egypt, Iran, and Turkey the inspired by the modern views of Sir Syed Ahmed Muslims were engaged in revolutionary activities for Khan, who had promoted rationalism and the achievement of democracy and freedom and that patronized the Aligarh school which was known for “the Muslims of India would also join in the political its pro-colonial modernism which Azad later sought struggle if we worked among them and tried to win to contest from a nationalist angle. Increasingly them as our friends.” Azad tried to convince his doubtful of religious dogma, Azad entered, although colleagues to shed their hostility towards Muslims; unnoticed by others, a period of self-described he argued that “active hostility, or even the 'atheism' and 'sinfulness' that lasted for almost a indifference of Muslims, would make the struggle decade (14 to 22 years of his age). (Gandhi, 1986; Huq, from political liberty much more difficult. We must, 2006) However, after wandering for about nine years therefore, make every effort to win the support and (1901-1910) he found his 'destination'. After the friendship of the community.” [Islam, Sirajul (2006- period of his spiritual homelessness, Azad, by the 07-23), Azad Biography (PHP), retrieved 30-10-2011] end of 1909, had an emotional / mystical experience that renewed his faith in religion and galvanized his Azad found that the revolutionary activities were personality in a dramatic way. But as he could not restricted to Bengal and Bihar. With his persuasion describe fully the power which had pushed him into the revolutionary network crossed the confines of 'darkness', he also could not tell about 'the hand' Bengal and Bihar and within two years, he helped which pulled him into 'light'. setup secret revolutionary centers all over north About the same time Azad's political ideas were also India and Bombay. in turmoil. He wanted to see his country free from the As has been said earlier, at a very young age, Contrary to what is stated in certain types of Maulana rose to prominence as a journalist; by 1903, historiography in the subcontinent, Hindu-Muslim he was publishing three journals, Nairang-e-Aalam, cooperation was not something that Azad adopted al-Misbah, and Lissan-us-Sidq. He was extensively out of expediency or after his eventual meeting with publishing works critical of the British Raj and Gandhi. Though al-Hilal was ambiguous about advocating the cause of Indian nationalism. In 1912, specific methods of cooperation and post- when he was only 24, he started a weekly journal in independence political arrangements, Hindu- Urdu called al-Hilal (The Crescent) to espouse the Muslim unity was a sentiment he had been partial to cause of freedom, participation of Muslims in the from very early on in his life, which is evident in his revolutionary movement as well as Hindu-Muslim poignant 1910 essay on the broad-minded Sufi saint unity. Al-Hilal played an important role in forging Sarmad. However, there was a revivalist tone to al- Hindu-Muslim unity after the bad blood created Hilal which critics would later say inadvertently between the two communities in the aftermath of reinforced communal consciousness among certain Morley-Minto reforms. It was this journal where he Muslims, even though the rhetorical devices had aired his liberal views, “Rationalist in outlook and been used to arouse Muslims out of political profoundly versed in Islamic lore and history.” lethargy. (Nehru in his Discovery of India) The Maulana interpreted scriptures from the rationalist point of He started a column in al-Hilal on scientific matters view. (muzakira-e-ilmiya) in February 1913 to make up for what he considered Muslims' current lack of Azad was politically and religiously radical. He knowledge in all things scientific. He complained believed that only by educating the Ulema, the that western-educated Muslims could not believe learned in Law and in theology, there would emerge that learned ulema studied philosophy thoroughly, a nucleus of dedicated and idealistic elite which can and he criticized those graduates for their lack of a act as a lever for the moral and intellectual true love of knowledge, saying that no Aligarh regeneration of the Muslim community. He paid graduates write books, translate great works, or special attention to the importance of make any contribution to knowledge. “Agnosticism communication through newspapers. With the used to be considered the result of the spread of launching of al-Hilal, Azad shot into the National learning. But what shall we say of agnosticism which Movement. He gave fearless and powerful is now linked to sheer ignorance!” (Al-Hilal 2:16, p. expression to his nationalist ideas through the 266-67) But though he was reluctant to admit the journal. Al-Hilal became a revolutionary mouthpiece benefits of western education, and disdained the ventilating extremist views. The paper shocked the products of Aligarh, his columns on scientific conservatives and created a furore; but there were matters focused on marvels of modern science. The many Muslims ready to follow him. In the pages of article was on radium, followed by Scott's expedition al-Hilal, Azad began to criticize the 'loyal' attitude of to the South Pole, wherein he praised European the Muslims to the British, and the 'hostile' attitude of devotion to science and the search for truth. He the British to the Muslim world in general. Despite translated articles from Scientific American; the first his earlier admiration for Sir Syed, Azad was a harsh was on Montessori educational methods. critic of the loyalist politics of Aligarh Movement. He also launched a vigorous attack on the colonial Azad described al-Hilal as a tuurning point in history distortions of our history. of journalism, which became immensely popular among the Muslim intelligentsia and by 1914 its While explaining the damage done by the anti- circulation had reached 26000 copies per week, a Hindu attitude of some Muslim intellectuals, al-Hilal figure which was till then unheard of in Urdu held out the message of Hindu-Muslim unity and journalism. (Maulana Azad as distinguished writer, nationalism to the Muslim elites as well as the Team ummid.com, November 10, 2009, 07:23:49 PM; popular classes and urged them to join other Urdu Press Overseas - Department of Education, communities in the struggle for the liberation of the Government of India) When World War I broke out country. Although it was candidly anti-imperialist, in Europe, the British government, viewing the like most of the patriotic journals of the time, al-Hilal journal as propagator of secessionist views, clothed its liberal ideals in religious forms. It confiscated the press and banned the journal in 1914 advocated merger of politics and religion and under the Defence of India Act after two years of conducted its nationalist platform from the angle of continuous publication. Pan-Islamism and religious revivalism. After the confiscation of Al-Hilal, Azad brought out a new weekly called Al-Balagh from November 12, Mahatma Gandhi. When Gandhiji proposed his 1915, with the same mission of propagating Indian programme of non-cooperation which included the nationalism and revolutionary ideas based on return of all titles, boycott of law courts and Hindu-Muslim unity but the government banned educational institutions, resignation from this paper too on March 31, 1916 and expelled Azad government services, and refusal to participate in the from Calcutta under the Defence of India newly constituted legislatures, Azad fully supported Regulations. The Governments of Punjab, Delhi, UP, saying that: “If people really wanted to help Turkey and Bombay had already prohibited his entry into there was no alternative to the programme sketched their provinces under the same regulations. Thus the by Gandhiji.” Thus Maulana Azad became the first only province he could conveniently stay in was prominent Muslim in India to declare himself an ally Bihar and he went to Ranchi, where he was interned of the Mahatma. till January 1, 1920. He was released after the First World War in 1920. In 1927, he again brought out his Azad roused the Muslim community through the own paper Al-Hilal, but could not continue it for Khilafat Movement the aim of which was to reinstate long. (Samiuddin, 2007) He went on to edit or co-edit the Khalifa as the head of British captured Turkey. numerous periodicals: Al-Balagh (Calcutta), 1915-16; The ambiguous results of the Khilafat Movement Al-Hilal (Calcutta), 1912-14, 1927; Al-Jamia have provoked criticism from some later-day (Calcutta), 1923-24; Al-Nadwa (Lucknow), 1905-6; historians over Azad's attempts at fusing religion Lisan al-Sidq (Calcutta), 1903-5; and Paigham with politics. By unsystematically using Quranic (Calcutta), 1921. arguments to support the Khilafat Movement and Hindu-Muslim cooperation, it has been suggested Released from jail, he resumed his educational that Azad inadvertently cultivated identity politics writings. He spoke in a new language, writes Pandit among Muslims and allowed some of his ideas to be Nehru. It was not only a new language in thought misconstrued by more communal interests. Azad and approach, even its texture was different, for came to realize that in politics he could only be Azad's style was tense and virile though sometimes a guided by the general principles of his religion and little difficult because of its Persian background. He his knowledge of Indian Muslim history, rather than used new phrases for new ideas and was a definite through invoking specific textual injunctions. influence in giving shape to Urdu language as it is today. (Khullar, 2010) The older conservative But when Muslim League denounced Gandhiji's Muslims did not react favourably to all this and Satyagraha, the nonviolent resistance or civil criticized Azad's opinion and approach. Yet not even disobedience movement, Azad, who had enrolled the most learned of them could meet Azad in debate himself in the League when he was a boy, left Muslim and argument, even on the basis of scriptures and League forever. Mahatma Gandhi said, "Maulana tradition, for Azad's knowledge of these happened to Azad is the most forceful, truthful, and fearless be greater than theirs. He was a strange mixture of satyagrahi and fighter against oppression and medieval scholasticism, 18th century rationalism, and injustice that I have come across." It is important to modern outlook. There were a few among the older recall that Maulana Azad always took an generation who approved of Azad's writings, among uncompromising position against communalism them being Maulana Shibli Nomani (the famous and supported an India that was secular. Indian scholar of Islam during British Raj) and Sir Enactment of Rowlatt Acts by the British Raj in Syed Ahmad Khan (the founder of Aligarh March 1919 allowed the government to imprison movement). anyone without a trial or a conviction. There were Khilafat and Non-cooperation widespread protests to this law. On April 13, 1919, thousands of people gathered peacefully in protest When he came out in January 1920, Azad met Tilak against this law in Jallianwala Bagh (Amritsar), and Gandhi for the first time, in Delhi, which was the Punjab, where more than a thousand people turning point of his life. Mahatma Gandhi had including women and children were massacred by launched the 'Khilafat Movement' (1919-1924) under the British troops under the command of General the Deoband School and Firanghi Mahal (where Reginald Edward Harry Dyer who ordered his Gandhi and Azad were frequent visitors) and there troops to open fire on the peaceful gathering (which he signed the memorandum to the Viceroy on the led to the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre of question of the Khilafat. With his involvement in the 1919). Azad became an enthusiastic supporter of Khilafat Movement, he came into close contact with Gandhi's ideas of non-violent civil disobedience, and worked actively to organize the Non-cooperation Azad became the most prominent Muslim in the movement in protest of the 1919 Rowlatt Acts. He Congress. In 1942, during the Quit India Movement, committed himself to Gandhi's ideals, which he was elected as the Chief spokesman of the included promoting Swadeshi (Indigenous) Congress. This distinction he also had during the products and the cause of Swaraj (Self-rule) for India. negotiations with the Cabinet Mission in 1946 at Simla. When the so-called cabinet mission from Congress Leader London came to India to discuss the modalities for the transfer of power into the Indian hands; the While extending his support to Mahatma Gandhi mission held discussions with the three top leaders of and non-cooperation movement, Maulana Azad the Congress Party - Gandhi, Nehru, and Azad. joined the Indian National Congress in January 1920. He emerged as one of the top leaders of the Indian Azad was elected for the second time to serve as National Congress Party. He played a leading role in Congress President from 1940 to 1946 and became the Gandhi-proposed non-cooperative civil the youngest and longest serving Congress President disobedience movement. His popularity was so high (in 1923 and from 1940-1946, 7 terms). In 1942, a more that at 35 he became the youngest person to be comprehensive Quit India movement was launched elected as the President of the Indian National and he was imprisoned with the entire Congress Congress in September 1923. He also served as the leadership for three years. (No election was held member of Congress Working Committee (CWC) during this period as almost every Congress leader and in the offices of general secretary and president was in prison on account of the Quit India for numerous occasions. movement.) He served as Gandhi's adviser in Muslim affairs. In 1928, Maulana Azad endorsed the Nehru Report, prepared by a committee of the All Parties Imprisoned six times throughout his politically Conference chaired by Motilal Nehru with his son active life, Maulana Azad had his long ordeal in Jawaharlal acting as secretary and nine other British jails where he had to spend total of ten and a members including two Muslims. The 'Nehru half years, which means almost one seventh part of Report' (1928) was a memorandum outlining a his whole life for the cause of India. He commented proposed new Dominion constitution for India. (A that “a seventh part of my life I have been detained. dominion refers to one of a group of autonomous Thus the English gave me a fine Sabbath-rest”. polities that were nominally under British Maulana Azad was perhaps the only one of our sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and leaders who was jailed during both World War I British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-45) for th of the 19 century.) Interestingly, the Motilal Nehru campaigning for Swaraj. However, the period of Report was severely criticized by number of Muslim leisure during the imprisonment proved the personalities involved with the freedom movement. proverbial silver lining in the dark clouds and he As opposed to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Azad also cherished his time in detention finishing four of his advocated for the ending of separate electorates famous books during those years, namely, based on religion and called for a single nation Tarjuman-ul-Quran, Tazkirah, Qaul-e-Faisal, and committed to secularism. It is important to note that Ghubar-e-Khatir. despite being a Muslim, Azad often stood against the policies of the prominent Muslim leaders like During the thirties the Muslim League had been Jinnah. gaining steam under Jinnah, and given special impetus because of grievances against certain Maulan Azad was one of the main organizers of the Congress elected provincial governments. Azad's Dharasana Satyagraha, a non-violent raid of the presidential address at the Ramgarh session of the Dharasana Salt Works in Gujarat as a protest against Congress in 1940 occurred just a few days before the British salt tax in colonial India in May, 1930. Jinnah's historic Pakistan Resolution, and, in Maulana Azad was arrested for violation of the salt addition to articulating the point of view of the laws as part of Gandhiji's Salt Satyagraha and he was nationalist Muslims, became a classic statement on put in Meerut jail for a year and a half. Azad emerged Indian secularism and a refutation of the two-nation as one of the most important national leaders of the theory. time, prominently leading the causes of Hindu- Unfortunately, in addition to being caught in the Muslim unity as well as espousing secularism and c r o s s - f i r e b e t w e e n H i n d u a n d M u s l i m socialism. communalists, Azad by then had become subject to a trenchant campaign of criticism by influential Following the passing away of M. A. Ansari in 1936, Muslim political opponents. Many members of the The refusal of Swaraj will affect only India while the religious and modern educated classes who earlier in end of our unity will be the loss of our entire human his career had respected him and his religious ideas world.” eventually turned against him because of this vilifying propaganda. Though he was capable of He was firmly committed to the ideas of equity and stirring large crowds with his brilliant oratory when equality, endearing him to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, called upon to do so Azad's pride and good manners who fondly called him Mir-i-Karawan (a leader of the kept him from publicly countering his detractors, mission), "a very brave and gallant gentleman, a and his intellectual and aristocratic nature kept him finished product of the culture that, in these days, from reaching out directly to the Muslim masses pertains to few". (Hasan, 2000) when such an intervention was needed. He stood for a unified India and never deviated from From Islamic Revivalism to Universal Humanism his stand. During his presidency, he tried to Very few religious individuals dare and show encourage Congress to come to terms with certain courage to criticize their own minds and to fight a Muslim fears and to make some concessions with the battle against their own prejudices. Of the leading League to avoid splitting the country, but both tolerant Muslims who have left a deep impact on the Jinnah's single-mindedness and certain Congress idea of pluralism in Islam, Maulana Azad stands out mistakes prevented any settlement from occurring. unique. Abul Kalam Azad was a man of constant The Maulana reluctantly relinquished the Congress introspection and critical self-examination. His presidency in 1946, hoping that this would open an contribution to Indian nationalism and Hindu- avenue between the Congress and the League; the Muslim unity in India, but also to the idea of latter party had refused to acknowledge a Muslim universal humanism is tremendous. Maulana Azad presence within the former one. When Nehru formed was proud to be a Muslim and an Indian. the first Indian (interim) ministry in 1946, he kept out of the coalition government, but immersed himself in In his early years, he had a derogatory attitude the organizational activities of the party. But in 1947, toward science. Later, he developed his idea that at Gandhi's urging, he became Minister of Education science is concerned with things that can be in Nehru's ministry. perceived by the senses, religion with the supra- Maulana Azad became the most prominent Muslim sensual. He wrote: “true science and true religion, opponent of the demand for a separate Muslim state although they travel on different paths, in the end of Pakistan. He had been totally opposed to arrive at the same destination.” (Azad, 1967, p. 146- Mountbatten's plan for dividing the country, but by 49) He maintained that religion is the only source of March of that year, partition had become an moral values. inevitability; the polarization within the interim government, formed between the Congress and the Azad avoided trying to find evidence of scientific League, and the rising communal violence theories in the Qur'an. In his Tarjuman, he said, “the throughout India had become too much. Though, aim of the Qur'an is to invite the attention of man to like Gandhiji, he was forced to accept partition, he His power and wisdom and not to make an could never reconcile himself to it and was totally exposition of the creation of the universe.” The heartbroken by the event and its bloody aftermath. Qur'an contains things which the people of that time Amidst communal turmoil following the partition of understood according to their own conceptions of India, he worked hard for religious harmony. life and custom, and could not contain any discussion of the facts of science and history in it, He writes in his famous book India Wins Freedom: because the people of the time had no “It is one of the greatest frauds on the people to comprehension of them. He maintained that the suggest that religious affinity can unite areas which Qur'an is the 'word from God' (kalam min 'inda llah), are geographically, economically and culturally rather than the 'word of God' (kalam Allah). In a different”. It is a fact of history that while other collection of Azad's letters, published as Malfuzat-e- Congress leaders accepted the partition in 1947, Azad, he states that we should understand the Maulana stood firm. His famous statement on 'divine word' in the sense that it is divine (khuda'i), Hindu-Muslim unity stands out as Magna Carta of while at the same time being in the words of the his faith: “If an angel were to descend from the Prophet. heavens and proclaim from the heights of Qutab Minar: Discard Hindu-Muslim unity and within 24 On the problem of the existence of God, Azad based hours Swaraj is yours, I will refuse the preferred his solutions on intuition, rather than rational Swaraj but shall not budge an inch from my stand. reasoning. Without God, there can be no understanding of the origin of life in the universe. Although Maulana Azad was a great orator and a There is only one solution to this problem. There is matchless writer, but he was too aloof to concern one way out of the maze. There is one piece to solve himself with persons, too intellectual to relish the puzzle. The problem of life in the universe is like a political small talk, too proud to think in terms of book with the first and last page missing; we know alliance, affiliation, or opposition. His religious ideas neither the beginning nor the end. If there is an were not widely influential. He expressed himself in omniscient being behind the curtain, everything has Urdu, and this limited himself to a particular group. meaning; if not, all is dark. Azad also argued from the The majority of the Indians did not really know what position that man is so superior to animals that he Azad was saying. Another reason was political. He must have superior inspiration. Everything around was in the Congress, and was considered a party- him is distraction, but he aspires to higher things. man. Thus whatever he said about the unity of This can only be the case if there is something higher religion was taken by many Muslims, who used to in front of him, which can only be God. The natural read him, as the reflections of his political ideas, and, answer to the search is inherent in man's nature; therefore, had to be discarded. Also, on the question man's quest for rising higher is a natural search, for of Muslims' traditional religious education, Maulana which the answer is God. He gives an example that in Azad was unorthodox. (Haq, 2006) learning to talk, children need living examples, and this requirement is naturally met by the mother and As in earlier years, he could not project the mystical father. (Azad, 1931, 1958, 1959, 1967) piety of, say, a Baba Farid needed to draw the Muslim Without denying the validity of either religion or and Hindu masses to him; but his belief in religious modern knowledge, he insisted that the realm of pluralism and the need for a humanistic outlook religious knowledge must be regarded as forbidden broadened even further, and he openly identified territory for reason. He insisted that modern parallels between Vedantic and Sufi thought in some knowledge must not be allowed to cut away what of his addresses. He was among those few who were belongs to religion. He dissociated himself from both not shaken in their faith in composite nationalism the modernist rejection of religious knowledge, and even by partition. the ulama's lack of respect for modern knowledge. “I am compelled to separate myself from the religious Education Minister (15.08.47 - 22.02.1958) reformers of today at this point, in spite of agreement In 1947, when the Interim Government was formed, on objectives and principles. Their position is that Maulana Azad was included as Member for whatever traditions they find the least bit contrary to Education and Arts. On August 15, 1947, when India their self-made standards of reason, they are attained Independence he became Free India's first immediately anxious to reject…Why should Education Minister with a cabinet rank (the post, tradition be rejected merely on this basis? Religious which he held until his death in 1958, for almost 11 knowledge has its own standards for testing thought years) and served in the Constituent Assembly to and tradition… You complain that the ulama pay no draft India's constitution. Azad's persuasion was attention to modern affairs. But what you present to instrumental in obtaining the approval of Muslim them is a pair of scissors, called by you 'mutual representatives to end the communal electorates, and confirmation of the revealed and the reasoned', with was a forceful advocate of enshrining the principle of which you thoughtlessly cut away. When you are secularism, religious freedom, and equality for all ignorant of religious matters, and Arabic, they Indians. He supported provisions for Muslim cannot respect you. Although personally, I think they citizens to make avail of Muslim personal law in are wrong in this attitude.” (Al-Hilal 2:6, 85-6) courts. (Gandhi, 1990)

Maulana Azad was indeed an institution in himself. Azad pursued questions of spirit and nature As a distinguished scholar, great statesman, Azad throughout his life. He concluded that the true was imbued with lofty ideas of nationalism, relation between science and religion is not one of democracy, freedom, and rationalism. His controversy but of harmonious coexistence and leads contribution to the field of Indian education is not to the discovery of the actual existence of a Universal only massive but also remarkable when viewed in Religion, despite all the extant divergent rites and historical perspective. Being a dynamic and creeds. For this primary purpose, Azad wrote his visionary educationist, he realized the importance of commentary Tarjuman al-Qur'an (1931). This education not only in terms of eradicating poverty, commentary is esteemed by Urdu readers because of illiteracy, and gender bias from the Indian scene but the excellent Qur'an translation which it contains. also wanted to use education as an effective tool for social change and rapid economic growth of our pattern of basic education, which is of great country. He played a significant role in reshaping, importance to the whole structure of our national restructuring, and reorganizing the education education." While delivering a speech at the system of our country. He is also regarded as an diamond jubilee celebration of Scindia School, architect of modern Indian education system. Gwalior, on February 26, 1949, he remarked: "A good (Sharma, 2010) school is a national asset of the highest value at any As Education Minister Maulana Azad oversaw the place or at any time. Schools are the laboratories establishment of a National Education System, with which produce the future citizens of the state." free primary education and modern institutions of All educational programmes, he said, must be higher education, which is today the bed-rock of the carried out in strict conformity with secular values National Policy on Education (1986) updated in 1992. and constitutional framework. He stood for a The concept implies that, up to a given level, all common educational structure of 10+2+3 students, irrespective of caste, creed, location, or sex throughout India. The Maulana was also a great have access to education of a comparable quality. He votary of the concept of Neighborhood schools and said, “We must not for a moment forget, it is a birth the Common School System. right of every individual to receive at least the basic education without which he cannot fully discharge Maulana Azad was also fully conscious about the his duties as a citizen.” composite cultures of India. So, in order to bridge the socio-religious and cultural gaps and to enrich As Chairman of the Central Advisory Board of Indian culture and heritage, he set up a number of Education, an apex body to recommend to the institutions of national importance such as the three Government educational reform both at the center National Academies, viz., the Sangeet Natak and the states including universities, Maulana Azad Academy (1953), Sahitya Academy (1954), and Lalit advocated, in particular, universal primary Kala Academy (1954). The Maulana felt that the education, free and compulsory for all children up to cultural content in Indian Education was very low the age of 14, girls' education, vocational training, during the British rule and needs to be strengthened agricultural education, and technical education. He through curriculum. Similarly, another important realized the fact that the country could achieve a achievement of Maulana Azad establishing the higher level of progress and advancement only by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) earlier making the education system of the country more in 1950 with the aim to establishing and improving practical, pragmatic and, above all, by meeting the cultural relations with other countries. immediate demands of society and the industry as a whole. Although education was on the State List, Azad insisted that the Centre must share the responsibility If Maulana Azad were alive today he would have with State Governments in its promotion. He been the happiest to see the Right to Education Bill appointed the University Education Commission approved by the Parliament. The Right to Education (1948) and the Secondary Education Commission Bill seeks to make free and compulsory education a (1952). He also established University Grants fundamental right. (Akshaya Mukul, Times of India, Commission (UGC) in 1953 by an Act of Parliament New Delhi, Jan 6, 2010) for disbursement of grants and maintenance of Regarding school education, he advocated that the standards in Indian universities. (UGC Genesis) He reform of school education was even more important firmly believed with Nehru that if the universities and urgent. Until schools improve, university discharged their functions well, all will be well with education cannot but remain unsatisfactory. "The the Nation. According to him, the universities have wealth of a nation”, according to Maulana Azad, not only academic functions they have social “was not the country's bank but in primary schools." responsibilities as well. He was pioneer in the field of Of the various stages of school education, the one adult education. His greatest contribution, however, which is in most urgent need of reform is that of is that in spite of being an eminent scholar of Urdu, secondary education. He opined: "There are three Persian, and Arabic he stood for the retention of stages in the secondary education - elementary, English language for educational advantages and middle, and higher. Of these, elementary and middle national and international needs. However, primary are the most important because the foundation of the education should be imparted in the mother-tongue. entire edifice of national education is laid in these On the technical education side he strengthened All two early stages. If the foundation is weak or Indian Council for Technical Education (AICTE) wrongly laid, the rest of the structure is insecure and (established in November 1945 first as an advisory faulty. For these two stages we have accepted the body and later on in 1987 given statutory status by an Act of Parliament) for the expansion of technological education is essential for preparing a population that education in free India. The Indian Institute of is not only knowledgeable and skilled but is aware of Technology (IIT) - conceived by a 22-member its responsibilities and willing to contribute to the committee of scholars and entrepreneurs in order to growth of the nation as well as well being of society. promote technical education - was inaugurated on 18 Paying rich tributes to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, August 1951 at Kharagpur in West Bengal by the great freedom fighter, visionary, and the first Maulana Abul Kalam Azad setting in motion the Education Minister of Independent India, she said, modern engineering education in India. While “Education should be a process that imparts inaugurating IIT Kharagpur, the Maulana said: "We knowledge, develops the personality of the must improve the facilities for higher technical individual and opens up new opportunities.” (Press education in the country so that we could ourselves Information Bureau, Govt. of India, MHRD, 11 meet most of our needs. The large number of our November, 2008, 16:40 IST) She also said, young men who had been going abroad for higher training could have received such training in the “To reflect on Maulana Azad's contribution to country itself. Indeed, I looked and still look forward education in independent India, we have to survey to the day when the facilities for technical education the post-independence educational scenario in India in India will be of such a level that people from when he became its first Education Minister. After abroad will come to India for higher scientific and 1947 it was felt that there was a need for careful technical training." He foresaw a great future in the prioritization in planning, so that 'our limited IITs for India when he said, "I have no doubt that the resources are not frittered away in doing too many establishment of this Institute will form a landmark things simultaneously.' His vision for the in the progress of higher technological education and reconstruction of education in independent India research in the country." (Proceedings of the 19th was centered on the creation of a common identity meeting of The Central Advisory Board of and purpose.” Education, New Delhi on March 15 and 16, 1952) “In the Central Advisory Board of Education in 1955, IIT Kharagpur was followed by a chain of IITs at he said, 'You will remember that at the last meeting of Bombay (1958), Madras (1959), Kanpur (1959), Delhi the Board, I placed before you my ideas on Secondary (1961), Guwahati (1994), Roorkee (estb. 1847, joined education. This is the stage up to which all should IITs in 2001), and eight others (at Gandhinagar, have the opportunity to go. In any case, it is the stage, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Hyderabad, Indore, Mandi, which marks, and will continue to mark the end of Jodhpur, and Ropar) established between 2008 and education for the vast majority. It should, therefore, 2010 for imparting quality engineering education in prepare them for life.' the country. The birth of the IITs epitomized modern engineering education in India. The IITs were While Maulana Azad envisioned a modern India mandated to produce the brains that would take the built through strengthening higher and technical country into a new era of technology and education, he also held the belief that along with industrialization. He laid emphasis on the training engineers and technicians for the development of the Indian Institute of Science development of the industries, it is equally necessary Bangalore and the Faculty of Technology of the Delhi 'to spread general education for raising the general th level of economic activities in the country.' University. (Proceedings of the 19 meeting of The

Central Advisory Board of Education, New Delhi, on Maulana Azad advocated religious teaching in March 15 and 16, 1952) School of Planning and schools, not from a narrow, factional sense of Architecture came into existence at Delhi in 1955. He religiosity, but from a liberal and open perspective. is celebrated as one of the founders and greatest His definition of 'secular' was different even from the patrons of the Jamia Millia Islamia. He made Visva mainstream opinion of the period, for he believed Bharati, Santiniketan, a Central University in 1952. and worked for multi-culturalism and interfaith From 1952 he also assumed charge of the Ministry of understanding. A strong advocate of the need to National Resources and Scientific Research. Apart transcend narrow provincialism, he declared, 'We from all these he had taken many major decisions on want to build in India a national outlook which will Education and Scientific Research during 1947-1958, transcend the limitations of province, State, religion, the early phase of India. caste or language.' He believed that the solution to the problems created by religious fanatics lay not in While inaugurating the first 'National Education rejecting religious instruction in elementary stages Day' at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, President of but in imparting sound and healthy religious India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil said that education so that children in their formative stages would not be misguided to fanaticism and intolerance of other religions.” As Education Minister, he chaired 9 of the 12 meetings of the Central Advisory Board of Education He felt the necessity of modernization of madrasas (CABE) held during his period as education minister. (crucial for Muslim's progress) in spite of having some disagreements with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan on Student Unrest the way this needed to be carried out. He was a product of Madarsa education system, but at times Secular to the marrow of his bones, Maulana's advice he was also a critic of the traditional Madarsa to students was: “Bury communalism once for all.” education system. (Mohammed Ali Rafat, Indian Student indiscipline, however, continued to worry Muslim Observer, November 06‚ 2010) As the him. Presiding over the meeting of the Central minister of education, he tried to establish an all India Advisory Board of Education (CABE) on 7 February madrasa board to stabilize the religious education 1954, he said: “What worries me most is that the with a proper scale for teachers and a proper extent and magnitude of the student's unrest is very examination for students; however, he was meted often without any relation whatsoever to the out with utmost resistance by Mufti Atiq-ur-Rehman supposed cause. Such unrest among the students Usmani, Maulana Shibli Nomani, and Maulana Hifz- strikes at the root of our national culture. The student ur-Rehman, all his close associates. (Ahmed, 2012) of today is the potential leader of tomorrow. He will have to sustain the social, political and economic Paying rich tributes to Maulana Azad, Shri Arjun activities. If he is not properly trained and does not Singh, former Minister of Human Resource develop the necessary resources of character and Development, said: (Press Information Bureau, knowledge he cannot supply the leadership which Govt. of India, MHRD, 11 November, 2008, 16:40 IST) the nation will need”. (Khullar, 2010)

“The vision that Maulana Abul Kalam Azad set out If Maulana Azad were alive today he would have for education is that of universal education of the been the saddest person to see the recent unrest in basic pattern for all children of school-going age, educational campuses. followed by a diversified secondary education. He believed that an unsatisfactory system of Secondary Author education undermines the entire system of education Maulana Azad was a prolific writer with books in in the country.” Urdu, Persian, and Arabic notable amongst which is On the question of Muslim traditional religious India Wins Freedom, his political biography, education also Maulana Azad was unorthodox. He translated from Urdu to English. He has more than wanted to see the graduates of traditional Madrasah twenty other titles to his credit, which include equipped with modern sciences. In his early days he Tarjaman-ul-Quran (The Meaning of the Qur'an), himself had started (July 1914) a training-cum- Vols. I & II, Basic Concepts of the Quran, Gubar-e- educational institution, Darul-Irshad, at Calcutta. Khatir (Sallies of Mind), Hijr-o-Vasal, Khatbat-i- That was a center to impart religions education with Azad, Hamari Azadi, Tazkirah (the reminder), modern methods and techniques. The institution, Mazameen-e-Al-Hilal (An Anthology of Al-Hilal however, could not live long due to his political Articles), Intekhab-e-Hilal, Dawat-e-Haq, Falsafa, preoccupations. Later on when he was the Tarziat-e-Azad, Tarikh-e-Azadi, Muzameen-i-Abul Educational Minister, he again persuaded the Kalam Azad (compiled by Syed Sifarish Hussain, Ulemas, who were in charge of Muslim religious vol. I), Nigarastan-i-Azad, Malfuzat-e-Azad education, to introduce changes in the traditional (compiled by Ajmal Khan, vol. I), Speeches of system of Madrasah education. But he could not Maulana Azad, Subh-e-Ummid, Part I, Azad ki succeed in removing their apprehension that such a kahani Khud Azad ki Zubani (compiled by A.R. move would entail governmental intervention in the Maliabadi, 1958), independent system of Muslim religious education. (Haq, 2006) Among his writings, the famous Tarjuman-ul- Abul Kalam Azad formulated the policies in order to Qur'an, his Urdu translation and commentary on the carry the light of education in the remotest rural areas Quran, published in 1931, is indeed his 'Magnum and also chalked out programmes for the training of Opus'. It was during the periods of imprisonment teachers to make them abreast of the developments that the Maulana was able to complete its first taking place in the world of education. At this edition. A second expanded edition was published moment, the nation is in need of a vital agenda to during the 1940s. It was essentially a commentary on reach the hitherto uncovered populace with a new the sacred text of Islam, which he used to education policy with thrust on values and skills. demonstrate the moral legitimacy of India as a homeland for the Muslim community in his turbulent youth, presented in romantic style. subcontinent. Tazkira was the first book of Azad to be published. It also discusses religion, philosophy, logic, history, This incomplete translation and commentary Sheikh Wasti, Imam ibn Taimiyya - two great would end up being his most definitive, though Islamic scholars, the life of the prophets and various controversial, theological statement on how Indian other topics. Ghubar-e-Khatir is Azad's last book Muslims could live out their religion in a religiously before he wrote his autobiography India Wins pluralist and politically secular environment. Freedom. After writing it, the pre-occupation with Hence, he articulated an Islam that was hospitable politics gave him no time for writing. It is a towards other religions, especially Hinduism, and collection of letters, written as pastime, when he was which placed emphasis on commonly held rules of detained in the Ahmed Nagar Fort, to Nawab Salar righteous conduct. He desired to co-ordinate the Jung Habibur Rahman Khan Sherwani - a renowned teachings of Islam with the principles of human theologian with the Nizam's Government at welfare and for this it was necessary to cleanse the Hyderabad, which were never posted. These letters Islamic principles of the myths and superstitions convey, in balanced and dignified manner, the which had crept into them. Tarjuman ul-Quran essence of Azad's mature experience. Besides turned out to be a highly successful commentary as revealing various things about himself, implicity or it reflected Azad's amazingly vast stock of explicity, it also describes how prisoners spent their knowledge, his clarity of mind, his phenomenal days in Ahmednagar jail. He also attacked religious memory, and his extra-ordinary power of superstitions and rituals and the conflicts between expression and communication. the creeds. There is no better or more reliable source Tarjaman-ul-Quran was also published by Sahitya for any biographer of Azad than Ghubare-Khatir. It Akademy in six volumes in 1977. Since then several carries details about Azad's personal bio-data, his editions of Tarjaman-ul-Quran have come out. family history, his education, his psychological Commenting on the fundamental unity of all make-ups and the motivations that shaped his religions, Azad wrote in Tarjuman-ul-Qur'an, “The character. fundamental concept of all religions is belief in the existence of God. All the religions teach the same He gave a new life to Anjamane-Tarrqui-e-Urdu-e- truth and the worship of God is ingrained in human Hind. During the partition riots when the Anjamane- nature. Thus differences in religion are created Tarrqui-Urdu suffered, its Secretary Maulvi Abdul (only) by three factors, dispute over the attributes of Haqq decided to leave for Pakistan along with the God, differences in modes of worship, and books of the Anjaman. Abdul Haqq had packed the differences in religious laws. These differences are books but Maulana Azad got them retrieved and created by time circumstances, by environment. thus saved a national treasure being lost to Pakistan. None doubts the existence of God.” He also helped the Anjaman to revive by sanctioning Discussing the unity of religions and oneness of a grant of Rs. 48,000 per month from the Ministry of God, he said, “The tragedy is that the world Education. Likewise he increased the grants of Jamia worships words and not meanings and even though Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University in all are seeking and worshipping but they quarrel their days of financial crisis. He paid particular with one another and differ on mere names. Once attention to the Archaeological Survey of India's the veil of names is lifted and the real meaning being efforts to repair and maintain the protected the same is brought out all quarrels would cease.” monuments. Though it was a landmark effort to inject a liberal ethos into Islam, the Tarjuman, unfortunately, did Throughout his life he stood for the chords of not have the overwhelming impact he hoped it cordiality between Hindus and Muslims and the would. The controversies that sprung up around composite culture of India. He stood for modern this work, particularly from members of the ulema India with secular credentials, a cosmopolitan that were supporting him politically, dried up any character and international outlook. inspiration in him to carry out the larger task of c o m p r e h e n s i v e r e l i g i o u s r e f o r m a n d Orator reinterpretation. Next to Tanuman-ul-Qur'an, Tazkirah is the most As an orator Azad had no equal among his important book written by Azad. It represents the contemporaries. When he spoke the audience first chapter of his autobiography though he listened to him spell-bound. Recalling the memories stopped proceeding further in autobiography lines of the Roman and the Greek orators, there was magic after writing about his great ancestors. However, it in his words, his language was chaste and civilized; contains revelations about Azad's life, more about his speech was dramatic. In October 1947, when the Delhi Muslims were leaving for Pakistan tens of first place." thousands of them, he spoke from the ramparts of "It was India's historic destiny that many human Jama Masjid, like an ancient oracle: “Behold, the high races, cultures, and religions should flow to her, and towers of Jama Masjid are asking you: where have that many a caravan should find rest here... One of you lost the pages of your history. Only yesterday the last of these caravans was that of the followers of your caravans had performed Wazu (Ablutions) on Islam. This came here and settled for good. In India the banks of Jamuna. And today you are afraid to live everything bears the stamp of the joint endeavors of here. Remember that you have nourished Delhi with the Hindus and Muslims. Our languages were your blood. You are afraid of tremors, time was when different, but we grew to use a common language. you yourself were an earthquake. You fear darkness Our manners and customs were dissimilar, but they when you yourself symbolized light only recently. produced a new synthesis. No fantasy or artificial The clouds have only poured dirty water and you scheming to separate and divide us can break this have raised your trousers for fear of being drenched. unity." They were your forefathers who had dived deep into the seas, cut across the mighty mountains, laughed “Not only is our national freedom impossible away the lightnings, answered the thunder of the without Hindu-Muslim unity, we also cannot create skies with the velocity of your laughter, changed the without it, the primary principles of humanity.” direction of the winds and turned the typhoons that "If an angel were to descend from the clouds today, they have been misled to a wrong destination. It is an settle on the Qutub Minar of Delhi and proclaim from irony of faith that those who played with the there that India will attain Swaraj provided Hindu- destinies of the kings are victims of their own destiny Muslim Unity is renounced, then I would renounce today. And in doing so, they have become so Swaraj and not sacrifice Hindu-Muslim Unity, forgetful of their God as if it never existed. Go back it because if Swaraj is delayed, it is the loss to India, but is your home, your country….” if Hindu-Muslim Unity is lost, it is the loss to humanity." (From the Presidential Address, Indian The effect of his speech was dramatic. Those who National Congress Session, 1923, Gaya) packed up their baggages to migrate to Pakistan “Full eleven centuries have passed by since then. returned home filled with a new sense of freedom Islam has now as great a claim on the soil of India as and patriotism. There was no mass migration Hinduism. If Hinduism has been the religion of the thereafter. In the history of international oratory people here for several thousands of years Islam also Maulana Azad's Jama Masjid speech can only be has been their religion for a thousand years. Just as a compared with the Gettysburg address of Abraham Hindu can say with pride that he is an Indian and Lincoln, Birla House speech of Nehru on Gandhi's follows Hinduism so also we can say with equal assassination and recently of Martin Luther's speech: pride that we are Indians and follow Islam. I shall “I have a dream.” enlarge this orbit still further. The Indian Christian is equally entitled to say with pride that he is an Indian Azad's own views and is following a religion of India, namely Christianity.” (From the Presidential Address, "I am a Muslim and profoundly conscious of the fact Indian National Congress Session, 1940, Ramgarh) that I have inherited Islam's glorious tradition of the last fourteen hundred years. I am not prepared to Who said what about Maulana Azad loose even a small part of that legacy. The history and teachings of Islam, its arts and letters, its culture and “Maulana is the emperor of learning. I consider him civilization are part of my wealth and it is my duty to as a person of the caliber of Plato, Aristotle and cherish and guard them. But, with all these feelings, I Pythogorus. He is a great authority on history.” - have another equally deep realization, born out of Mahatma Gandhi my life's experience which is strengthened and not "Maulana Azad is the most forceful, truthful, and hindered by the Islamic spirit. I am equally proud of fearless satyagrahi and fighter against oppression the fact that I am an Indian, an essential part of the and injustice that I have come across." - Mahatma indivisible unity of the Indian nationhood, a vital Gandhi factor in its total makeup, without which this noble edifice will remain incomplete." "Though I am grateful to all my companions, I would like to mention especially Maulana Abul Kalam "If the whole world is our country and is to be Azad, whose erudition has delighted me incredibly, honored, the dust of India has the first place. If all and has sometimes overwhelmed me. In Azad along mankind are our brothers, then the Indians have the with the good qualities of the past, the graciousness, the deep learning and tolerance, there is a strange It is a great irony that, while possessing a thorough and unique mixture of the urges of today and the Islamic training, Azad ended up espousing a secular modern outlook." - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru nationalism informed by personal religious sensibilities, while his opponent Jinnah, a modernist "Maulana Azad was a very special representative in a with a minimal religious upbringing, ended up high degree, of the great composite culture which has vying for a separate Muslim state informed by purely gradually grown in India. He represented the political considerations. synthesis of various cultures which had flown in and lost themselves in the ocean of Indian life and For his invaluable contribution to the nation, humanity, affecting and changing them and being Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was posthumously changed themselves by them. In that sense, I can awarded India's highest civilian honor, Bharat Ratna hardly conceive of any other person who can replace in 1992. While paying tribute to him, Jawaharlal him, because the age which produced him is past." - Nehru said: "We mourn today the passing of a great Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru man of luminous intelligence and mighty intellect with an amazing capacity to pierce through a “…..He was great in many ways. He combined in problem to its core. I use the word 'luminous'. I think himself the greatness of the past with the greatness of that is the best word I can use about his mind a the present. He always reminded me of the great men luminous mind. When we miss such a companion, of several hundred years ago about whom I have friend, colleague, comrade, leader, teacher call him read in history, the great men of the Renaissance, or what you will there is inevitably a tremendous void in a later period the encyclopaedists who proceeded created in our life and activities.” the French Revolution, men of intellect and men of action. He remembered also of what might be called Throughout his life, he lived a frugal and austere life; the great quality of olden days - the graciousness and apart from books and papers, there were hardly which we sadly seek in the world today….It was the any other effects that the Maulana possessed at the strange and unique of the good qualities of the past, time of his demise. At the time of his death he had the graciousness, the deep learning and toleration neither any property nor any bank account. In his and the urges of today which made Maulan Azad personal almirah were found some cotton 'Achkans', what he was.” - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru a dozen 'Khadi Kurtas' and 'pyjama', two pairs of sandals, an old dressing gown, and a used brush. But “The Maulan Azad stood for what may be called the there were lots of rare books which are now a emancipation of the mind free from superstitions, property of the Nation. obscurantism and lanaticisrn. This mind should be free from narrow prejudices of race or language, A man like Maulana Azad is born rarely. Throughout province or dialect, religion or caste. It is only then his life he stood for the unity of India and its that it is a civilized mind. He worked for the ideals of composite culture. His opposition to partition of national unity, probity in administration and India has created a niche in the hearts of all patriotic economic progress. In a philosophical vein, the Indians. There he stands with Khan Abdul Ghaffar Maulana points out that 'to find out the meaning of Khan, his senior an Ashfaqullah his junior. In the life and existence in the purpose of the philosophical words of Iqbal: Hazaron sall Nargis apni benoori par quest, we may not succeed in finding it out but the roti hai, Bari Mushkil sey hota hai chaman mein pursuit of the quest is its own reward.' Those who deeda var paida. (For a thousand years the Narcissus follow the path never tire because it is both the way weeps for her blindness, with great difficulty is born and the destination.” - Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in the garden a man with vision).

Death Legacy is last years were marked by sadness and loneliness, The Ministry of Minority Affairs of the Government a consequence of a life lived so individualistically. of India set up the Maulana Azad Education His wife Zulekha Begum died on 9 April 1943. Foundation in 1989 on the occasion of his birth Maulana Abul Kalam Azad died of a stroke on 22 centenary to promote education amongst February 1958 and was buried in a dignified corner in educationally backward sections of the Society. Old Delhi near the Jama Masjid. One of the foremost (Maulana Azad Education Foundation website) The leaders of Indian freedom struggle and one of the Ministry also provides the Maulana Abul Kalam founders of modern Indian passed away. Azad National Fellowship, an integrated five year fellowship in the form of financial assistance to foundations of the education system in an students from minority communities to pursue independent India as well as to evaluate our current higher studies such as M.Phil and Ph.D. (Shri Salman performance in this field. Henceforth, on this day, all Khurshid Launches Maulana Abul Kalam Azad stakeholders involved in the field of education National Fellowship, Press Information Bureau, should come together to seek ways to advance India's Government of India, December 22, 2009) prestige in the world, as a knowledge society and to Numerous institutions across India have also been focus on how to educate our people.” named in his honor. Some of them are the Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, the Maulana Acknowledgement Azad National Institute of Technology in Bhopal, the Maulana Azad National Urdu University The author is proud of Maulana Azad's contribution (Hyderabad), Maulana Azad Centre for Elementary to the nation and salutes him and thanks him for and Social Education (Delhi University), Maulana making India what it is today. This article would not Azad Medical College (New Delhi), Maulana Azad have been possible to be compiled without taking the College (Kolkata), and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad help of the works of several scholars too many to be Institute of Asian Studies (Kolkata). mentioned here; the author acknowledges his indebtedness to each one of them. National Education Day Bibliography In recognition of his contribution to establishing the education foundation of India, Maulana Abul Kalam 1. Abduhu, G. Rasool (1973), The educational ideas Azad's Birthday, 11th November, has been declared of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sterling as National Education Day. Paying rich tributes to Publishers, New Delhi. 2. Ahmed, Firoz Bakht (2011, November, 10), Maulana Azad on the first 'National Education Day' Forgotten crusader, Deccan Herald, Bangalore. at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, President, Smt. 3. Ahmed, Firoz Bakht (2012, January 11), Pratibha Devisingh Patil said, (Press Information Modernisation of madrasas crucial for Muslims' Bureau, Govt. of India, MHRD, 11 Nov., 2008, 16:40 progress, Deccan Herald, Bangalore. IST) 4. Azad, Abul Kalam (1931), Tarjuman al-Qur'an, vol.1; (1936), vol. 2, Daftar-e-Tarjuman al- “It is a great privilege and honour for me to Qur'an, Delhi; (n.d.), Shaikh Mubarak Ali, participate in the First National Education Day Lahore; (1945), 2nd edition, Karachi; (1962) celebrations. English translation by Syed Abdul Latif, Asia Today is the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Publishing House, Bombay. Kalam Azad, a great visionary, freedom fighter, 5. Azad, Abul Kalam (1958), Basic Concepts of the scholar, secularist and eminent educationist. As Quran, Translation by Syed Abdul Latif, ed., India's first Education Minister, he was convinced Academy of Islamic Studies, Hyderabad. 6. Azad, Abul Kalam (1959), India Wins Freedom that education is a tool of social transformation. He An Autobiographical Narrative, Humayun had a clear vision that all individuals should have a Kabir, ed., Orient Longman, Bombay. right to education that would develop their faculties 7. Azad, Abul Kalam (1967), Ghubar-e-Khatir, and enable them to live an enriched life. His well- Malik Ram, ed. Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi rounded view of education prompted him to set up and (n.d.), Anarkali Kitab Ghar, Lahore. apex education bodies like the All India Council of 8. Azad, Abulkalam; Hameed, Syeda Saiyidain; Technical Education and the University Grants Rizvi, Mujib; and Mahdi, Sughra (1990), India's Commission. It is befitting that this day, a day on Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Indian Council for which this great son of India was born, should be Cultural Relations. celebrated this year onwards as the National 9. Chopra, Pran Nath (1990a), Maulana Abul Education Day. I congratulate the Ministry of Kalam Azad: unfulfilled dreams, Interprint, Human Resource Development for taking this New Delhi. initiative. 10. Chopra, Pran Nath (1990b), Maulana Azad, selected speeches & statements, 1940-47, The objective of celebrating National Education Day Reliance Pub. House, New Delhi. should be to strengthen our educational institutions 11. Datta, Vishwa Nath (1990), Maulana Azad, and to raise the quality of education to greater Manohar, New Delhi. heights. It should be an occasion to remember 12. Desai, Mahadev Haribhai (1941), Maulana Abul Maulana Azad's contribution in laying the Kalam Azad, G. Allen and Unwin Limited, London. 26. Kumar, Ravindra (1991), Life and Works of 13. Douglas, Ian Henderson (1993), Abul Kalam Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Atlantic Publishers Azad: An Intellectual and Religious Biography, & Distributors, New Delhi. Edited by Gail Minnault and Christian Troll, 27. Malik, Sadaket (2008), Maulana Abul Kalam Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Azad - The Builder of Modern India, India 14. Gandhi, Rajmohan (1986), Eight Lives: A Study Education News, indiaedunews.net, of the Hindu-Muslim Encounter, State November 11. University of New York Press, USA, p. 219, ISBN 28. Menon, V.P. (1957), Transfer of Power in India, 0-88706-196-6. Princeton University Press, p. 235. 15. Gandhi, Rajmohan (1990), Patel: A Life, 29. Minault, Gail (1982), The Khilafat movement: Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, p. religious symbolism and political mobilization 50205, ISBN 8172291388;. in India, Columbia University Press, New York, 16. Ghosh, Avijit (2008), 50 years after death, ISBN 0231050720. Maulana hasn't got his due, Times of India, TNN 30. Muzzammil, Safia (1988), Abul Kalam Azad: Feb 22, 2008. Islam and humanity, al-Kausar Publishers, 17. Hameed, Syeda Saiyidain (1998), Islamic Seal on Hyderabad. India's Independence; Abul Kalam Azad - A 31. Rajput, A.B. (1964), Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Fresh Look, Oxford University Press, Karachi. Lion Press, Lahore. 18. Hasan, Mushirul (2000 January), One hundred 32. Samiuddin, Abida (editor) (2007), Encyclopedic people who shaped India in the 20th century, Dictionary in Urdu Literature (in 2 Volumes), Maulana Abul Kalam Azad - II (PHP), India DK Publishers Distributors (INDIA), ISBN Today, special millennium issue, Retrieved 8182201918. 2007-06-14. 33. Shaidai, Shamsul Haque (1991), Maulana Abul 19. Huq, Mushirul (2006), President Azad (PHP), Kalam Azad: some personal glimpses, Academic www.aicc.org.in/new/past-president- Publishers, New Delhi. detail.php?id=35, Retrieved 2006-07-23. 34. Sharma, Arun Kumar (2010), Visionary 20. Ikram, S.M. (1995), Indian Muslims and Partition educationist, The tribune, Chandigarh, India, On of India, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. line edition, Sunday, November 7. P.139. 35. Singh, S.B.; Srivastava, Nagendra Mohana 21. Islam, Sirajul (2006), Azad Biography (PHP), Prasad; and Kumar, Vijoy (1993), Life and times banglapedia.org, Retrieved 2006-07-23. of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Kashi Prasad 22. Iyer, R. Subramonia and Lal, K. Sajan (2006), The Jayaswal Research Institute, Patna. role of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: the Indian 36. Singh, N.K. and Samiuddin, A. (2003), Editors, politics, Abul Kalam Azad Oriental Research Encyclopaedic Historiography of the Muslim Institute Publication, Hyderabad; Editor: World,Vol. 1, Global Vision Publishing House, Khwaja Mohammed Ahmad. Delhi, Azad, Maulana Abul Kalam - Indian 23. Kabir, Humayub (1959), Maulana Abul Kalam Historian and Theologian, p. 119-129. Azad: A memorial volume, Asia Publishing 37. Troll, Christian W. (1986), Islam in India: studies House, Bombay, Originally from the University and commentaries, Volume 3, Vikas, New Delhi. of California. 38. Zillur Rahman, Hakim Syed (1989), Maulana 24. Kashyap, Subhash C. (1989), Maulana Abul Azad Aur Bhopal, Fikro Nazar (Maulana Azad Kalam Azad: a centenary volume (edited), Number), Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, National Publishing House, New Delhi. p. 107-112. 25. Khullar, K.K. (2010), Maulana Abul Kalam 39. Zillur Rahman, Hakim Syed (1990), Maulana Azad: Educationist & Scholar Extraordinary, Azad ek Muttala, Jawahar aur Azad, Edited by India Current Affairs, A Leading Source of Professor Abdul Qavi Dasnavi, Saifia College, Online Information on India, Nov. 11, 2010. Bhopal.

Aliah University has published a Dictionary entitled: "A Dictionary of Common Words of The Holy Qur'aan", jointly edited by Professor Syed Samsul Alam, Vice-Chancellor of Aliah University and Dr. Md. Maseehur Rahman, Assistant Professor of the Department of Arabic, Aliah University. Relevance of Madrasah Education In India

Dr. Anowar Hossain learning, knowledge and research. During this time Registrar state proclamations were made throughout the country and wages and allowances for teachers and The word 'Madrasah' is an Arabic term meaning scholarships for students were arranged. Separate educational institution or school imparting education learning rooms for students and teachers were to all. According to encyclopedia of Islam, “Madrasah established in the mosques during this period. is an institution of learning, where Islamic Sciences including literary and philosophical ones are taught”. The arrival of the Arabs through Muhammad Bin Avowed aim of madrasah education is also to Qasim's conquest of the Indus in 711 A.D. had a great inculcate the belief and practice of Islam among its influence on the Indian localities. The Muslim followers and guide them to follow the Quran and conquest of India did not succeed in presenting a Hadith. The foundation of Madrasah Education is superior educational system to the Indian sub- basically standing on two pillars of the Quran and continent. Instead, following the tradition of Indian Sunna. This wider connotation definitely imparts educational institutions teaching religion and universality to this system contrary to the prevailing Sanskrit, they established maktabs and Madrasahs. idea of its being orthodox and confined to particular During the twelfth thirteen centuries with the growth religion. of Muslim population Madrasah system of education expanded in the major cities like Delhi, Lucknow, The history of madrasah dates back to the rise of Rampur, Agra, Madras, Dhaka and major cities of the Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself western region of India. actively undertook the promotion of education. In Darul Akram, at the base of the Saafa Mountain, the 'Tarikh-E-Fereshta' mentions that the first Madrasah Prophet (pbuh) himself established and taught in the was established in the Multan province of western first Madrasah. The first students of the very first India. It was probably in the sixth century that educational institute established under Islam were Nasiruddin Kabacha built the Madrasah Firuzi Abu Bakr (ra), Omar (ra) and the other Sahabis. Later building for Maulana Kutubuddin Kasani. It is the Prophet (pbuh) handed over the responsibility of believed that this was the first formally approved teaching to Hazrat Ibn Umme Maktun and Mas Aab Madrasah in the sub-continent. According to another Bin Umayr and migrated to Madinah to spread the source, Muslim religious education in India the word of Islam. establishment of maktabs and madrasahs occurred in the twelfth century. Muhammad Ghuri established After his arrival in Madinah, the Prophet (pbuh) a number of Madrasahs in Ajmir, where slaves he had established an educational institute in a place near brought to India with him and the local converted Nabubi mosque. This was named the Madrasah-E- Muslims received education. Soffa. The institution included living quarters for poor students from out of the town. Sahabis such as After the conquest of Bengal and Bihar by Hazrat Abu Horayra (ra), Hazrat Muyaz Ibn Jabal Ikhtiaruddin Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilji in 1203 (ra), Hazrat Abuzar Giffari (ra) were students there. Islamic education spread widely throughout this Gradually this Madrasah evolved into the central land. A large number of mosques and Madrasahs learning institution of Madinah. Following the death were established. During Turkho-Afgan and Mughal of the Prophet (pbuh), during the time of the rule several madrasahs were established in Multan, Kholafaye Rasedin, Madrasah education expanded Ucha, Ajmir, Delhi, Punjab, Agra, Ayodh, Bihar, the further. Deccan, Malab, Kashmir, Gujarat, Surat and Bengal. In Bengal ancient madrasahs were found in Rangpur, The second phase of Islamic education began with the Dhaka, Murshidabad, Laxmanabati, Gour, Ashtipur, reign of Hazrat Umar Bin Abdul Aziz, the eighth Ghorasheed mahalla, Shilapur and other towns. Khalifa of the Umaiya lineage. The whole of Arab and During the reign of the later Mughals although Iran was transformed into Muslim centres of maktabs and madrasah did exist, state control over

19 them had lessened. established Madrasatul Ulum at Aligarh in 1873 for imparting modern education, which later became With the disintegration of Muslim rule particularly Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College and then after the advent of the British, Madrasah education Aligarh Muslim University. Deriving inspiration gradually lost its shine it had during the Muslim rule. from both Deoband and Aligarh, other prominent It received a major setback and suffered further Islamic Seminaries like Nadwatul Ulama and Jamia reversal with the introduction of modern education. Millia were later established in Lucknow and Delhi Following the British colonization of India, there was respectively. a gradual decline in the maktabs of Bengal. Madrasahs developed a more rigid attitude towards During pre-partition and post-partition periods so religion-centric education for Muslims. On the other many madrasahs were established in different parts hand, for completely political reasons, in accordance of India. Today the madrasah system of education is with the Oriental School of Educational Policy, the prevalent in large parts of the country. The number of British themselves patronized this religious-based madrasahs in India is estimated to be between thirty mode of education in the then India. In 1780 Warren and forty thousand. According to the Ministry of Hastings established Calcutta Madrasah since the Home Affairs, Government of India, there are 721 Muslims needed to be engaged by the criminal court, madrasahs catering to over 1,20,000 children in the police and the other departments. Assam, 18,825 madrasahs catering to 1,20,000 children in Gujarat, 961 for 84,864 children in In the midst of anglicistorientalist controversy that Karnataka, 9,975 for 7,38,000 children in Kerala, 6,000 arose from the very dawn of the nineteenth century, for over 4,00,000 children in Madhya Pradesh and the Muslims, instead of modern education, were some 1,780 catering over to 25,000 children in satisfied with learning Arabic/Persian languages and Rajasthan, In Uttar Pradesh, the number of maktabs is maktabs and madrasah. Still, after many debates, it more than 15,000 and madrasahs over 10,000 and was decided to introduce English classes in the there are 3,500 madrasahs in Bihar. In West Bengal Calcutta Madrasah in 1824. A large number of there are 609 madrasahs catering to over 4,50,000 students enrolled within the first three days when the children. Similar are the figures for the other state of General Committee for Education established the India. Except in some parts of Kerala, these Mohsin College in Hoogli with funding from the madrasahs cater strictly to Muslim children. Mohsin Fund in 1836. It was surprising that among 1200 students enrolled in English and 300 in the Today, Official Circles, fiercely anti- Muslim Oriental Studies department there were only 31 and Hindutva groups and large section of the Indian press 81 Muslim students respectively. Grabbing the seem to have mounted a concerted campaign to opportunity William Hunter in 1882 proposed that dismiss the madrasahs not just as bastions of instead of spending the available resources on the conservatism and reaction but also as training Mohsin College, the money should be spent in grounds for Islamic terrorists. In February 2001, the establishing madrasah in Hoogli, Dhaka and Indian Government brought out a document Chittagong. prepared by a group of Ministers on National Securities, alleging that madrasahs, particularly in After the failure of 1857 revolt Muslims in India by some bordering regions, were working in league with and large feared that the Muslim mode of life may get pan-Islamic militant outfits and radical organizations diluted due to western education introduced by the in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and some other west British. Their immediate need was to keep a check on Asian States. In the wake of the attack on the World the possibility of their community moving towards Trade Centre in New York in September 2001, attacks modern education and to ensure carrying forward the on the madrasahs in the Indian press have mounted. Perso-Arab legacy, which was possible only through madrasah education. They launched madrasah In the present climate of hostility and suspicion, the movement by establishing an Islamic Seminary agenda of reforming the madrasahs has become known as Darul Uloom at Deoband in 1866 with a difficult. Besides the current wave of attacks on view to educate Indian Muslims with the Islamic madrasahs in India, the other factors make the task of system of education. By the close of nineteenth reform more difficult. Given the fact that almost all century madrasahs like Farangi Mahal (Lucknow), their teachers and students now come from lower and Dar-al-Ulum (Deoband) and Nadwat-al-Ulama lower-middle class backgrounds and that they (Lucknow), emerged as the advocate of Islamic remain largely insulated from the developments in education. Contrary to the Deoband movement Sir wider society, the need for reform is not felt as Syed Ahmed Khan launched Aligarh movement and urgently as it should be. Madrasahs that wish to

20 introduce modern subjects often lack the necessary 2. Abdus Sattar, The History of Aaliyah Madrasah, funds and trained teachers. The existence of fierce Dhaka. difference of schools of thought and sect has made it 3. Badruddin Umar, The Education Commission impossible for the setting up of an all-India body to Report and Regarding Madrasah and Religious regulate the policies and activities of the schools, and Education, 25th Sanskriti, Anniversary Issue. efforts to do so in the past have all failed. 4. The Daily Inqilab, July 15, 1999. 5. Yoginder Sikand, Reforming the Indian In the light of the above, madrasah education in India Madrasahs: Contemporary Muslim Voices. need reorientation. The format of the education 6. M a n z o o A h m a d , I s l a m i c E d u c a t i o n : imparted to the students of madrasahs ought to be Redefinitions of Aims and Methodology, New modified keeping in view the shifting demands of the Delhi. employers a concern which can no longer be under- 7. Muhammad Qasim Zaman, “Religious played. And this is perfectly possible without an Education and the Rhetoric of Reform: The erosion of the cultural and religious identity. Madrasahs in British India and Pakistan” Madrasahs need to recognize that the world has Comparative studies in Society and History. undergone a transformation. Employers have 8. S. Farooq, Madrasah Education India A need for specialized needs which the current education is Reorientation. unable to meet. Global and private competition, not to 9. Madrasah Education: What Creative Associates mention financial constraints, is not likely to has learned, Jeanne Moulton, with John disappear in the foreseeable future. Forwarding more Silverstone, Uzma Azhar and Amir Ullah Khan, of what they are currently doing is not the solution to February, 2008 these problems. To survive present and future 10. Manzar Imam, Madrasahs Education in India , challenges the madrasahs must find new ways to The Milli Gazette. extend contemporary education to their students in 11. Alexander Evans, Madrasah Education: the globalized India. Necessity or Rational choice? December19, 2008. 12. Madrasah Education in West Bengal, Minority Reference: Affairs & Madrasah Education Department, Government of west Bengal. 1. Abdul Huq Faridi, Madrasah Education: 13. R. Upadhyay, Madrasah Education in India Is it Bangladesh, Dhaka. to sustain medieval attitude among Muslims? New Thoughts on University Examinations Way back in 1902, the Indian University Commission said, “The greatest evil from which the university education in India suffers is that teaching is subordinate to examination.” In his Presidential Address at the 98th Indian Science Congress held at Chennai on January 3, 2011, Prof. K. C. Pandey said, “The present examination system contributes to strain, slackness, corruption and inefficiency. Such a system has to be dismantled and replaced with a system of continuous and comprehensive internal assessment which would eliminate the fear of examinations, evaluate the student's proficiency, encourage regular study habits, facilitate continuous feedback on performance and help to improve it and also ensure teacher's accountability. ” The teacher who teaches a course has to have the responsibility for assessing and grading the students. There should not be any secrecy about any part of assessment. If continuous internal assessment is introduced in all institutions, there will be a thorough decentralization in the examination system which will pave the way for real competition where the best alone will stand the test and survive. We have no choice except to introduce this system in the entire university education. It would be worth mentioning that the University of Mysore has introduced choice based credit system (CBCS) and continuous assessment and grading system (CAGS) for post graduate courses under which a student will be subjected to continuous evaluation. There will be flexibility in the curriculum and reforms in the examination pattern. The “concept to fail” will be a thing of the past, with options to drop or register afresh for a new paper or improve the credits. Several other institutions including some agricultural universities and Indian Institute of Technology have introduced the system of continuous evaluation and internal assessment with success and proved its efficiency. (Quality Education and Excellence in Science Research in Indian Universities, Prof. K. C. Pandey, Presidential Address, NISCAIR, CSIR, New Delhi, p.)

21 Carbon Nanotubes Application in Modern Science

Dr. Sk. Faruque Ahmed shape of the carbon nanotube wall is a cylinder. The Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Aliah planar sp2 bonding, which is characteristic of University graphite, plays a significant role in carbon nanotubes. A multi-wall carbon nanotube is a rolled-up stack of Carbon, which belongs to group IV of the periodic graphene sheets of coaxial single-wall carbon table, is the lightest element in this group, and it nanotube. The number of walls present can vary from possesses countless interesting physical and chemical two (double wall nanotubes) to several tens, so that properties. In contrast to silicon, germanium and tin, the external diameter can reach 100 nm. The main which have the same number of electrons in the difference between nanotubes and nanofibers outermost shell as carbon and can only exist in cubic consists in the lack of a hollow cavity for the latter. sp3 hybridization, carbon not only exhibits sp3 The diameters of carbon nanofiber are generally hybridization (diamond), but also planar sp2 higher than the ones presented by nanotubes and can hybridization as in the graphite structure and sp1 easily reach 500 nm. Since last two decade, new hybridization as in carbynes. Elemental carbon in the carbon forms like carbon nanofibers and carbon sp2 hybridization can form a variety of amazing nanotubes have generated an interest in the scientific structures. Apart from the well-known graphite, community. However, one of the first evidence that carbon can build closed and open cages with the carbon nano filaments synthesized by thermal honeycomb atomic arrangement. Carbon nanotubes decomposition of hydrocarbons exhibiting an inner are members of the fullerene structural family, which cavity, can be found in the transmission electron also includes buckyballs. Whereas buckyballs are microscope micrographs discovered by Hillert et al in spherical in shape, a nanotube is cylindrical, with at the year of 1958. The production of graphite least one end typically capped with a hemisphere of nanofibers is even older and the first reports date of the buckyball structure. A single-wall carbon more than a century (1890). The interest in fibrous nanotube is best described as a rolled-up tubular shell carbon has since then been recurrent and a significant of graphene sheet (single layer of graphite) which is boost in the research in carbon nanostructure field made of benzene-type hexagonal rings of carbon coincides with the discovery of multiwall carbon atoms. There are many possible orientations of the nanotubes by Japanese scientist Iijima in 1991. hexagons on the nanotubes, even though the basic Electronic properties of carbon nanotubes are mainly g o v e r n e d b y t w o f a c t o r s : t h e t u b e d i a m e t e r a n d t h e helicity, which is defined by the way in which the graphene layer is rolled up. Nanotubes can be as small as 1 nm in diameter and as long as 100,000 nm. These tubes are extremely strong, approaching t h e s t r e n g t h o f diamond and also dissipate heat better than any other known m a t e r i a l . C a r b o n

22 nanotubes are one of the strongest and stiffest proposed to use nanotubes as central elements of materials known, in terms of tensile strength and electronic devices including single-electron elastic modulus respectively. Carbon nanotubes have transistors, rectifying diodes and for logic circuits. very good elasto-mechanical properties because the The geometric properties of nanotubes such as the two dimensional arrangement of carbon atoms in a high aspect ratio and small tip radius of curvature, graphene sheet allows large out-of-plane distortions, coupled with the extraordinary mechanical strength while the strength of carbon-carbon in-plane bonds and chemical stability, make them an ideal candidate keeps the graphene sheet exceptionally strong against for electron field emitters. Carbon nanotubes field any in-plane distortion or fracture. This strength emitters have several industrial and research results from the covalent sp2 bonds formed between applications; flat panel displays, outdoor displays, the individual carbon atoms. Depending on how they traffic signals and electron microscopy and nano- are configured, carbon nanotubes are good thermometer. Their impressive mechanical conductors of electricity and can also act as semi- properties, high current carrying ability and field conductors for molecular electronics. Carbon emission performance have opened the way to a nanotubes are three dimensional as opposed to the number of applications such as field emission current silicon based electronics that are two- devices, interconnects, sensors, super-capacitors, fuel dimensional. They appear to be able to extend the cells, battery electrodes and as a thermal interface miniaturization process by several additional orders material in both IC packaging and equipment cooling of magnitude over current methods as they conduct applications. The vertical geometry of carbon electricity better than copper. Also due to their semi nanotubes is particularly useful in technologies such conducting properties, nanotubes may be the as nano-electronics, electrodes for bio-sensing and building blocks for smaller, faster computers. It was stimulation.

23 Maulavi Bhai Girish Chandra Sen

Dr. Shabnam Begum, According to his own statement, his family life was not conducive to proper development of personality; In the 19th century, the socio-economic disparity most of his relatives were drunkards and long between the two major communities in Bengal caused association with them caused his moral degradation a great rift in their relationship and they stood aloof also. His education started at the age of five. Though from each other and never made any sincere attempts initially he started learning Bengali but later on his in knowing each other. At this point of time a section father asked him to learn Persian because Persian was came out of the Hindu society and expressed their then the court language was more helpful in getting separate identity as Naboday Brahma Samaj. They jobs.After the expiry of his father, his elder brother would believe in the unity of God instead of Ishwar Chandra took his guardianship and sent him worshipping multiple gods. It was this Brahma Samaj to Dhaka Pogos School. But he soon left the English that first showed genuine interest in knowing every Medium School and again started to learn Persian religion and they made an honest endeavour in from Umanath Gupta, Krishnachandra Ray, Maulavi finding out the good and imitable things of each Abdul Karim who was the Deputy Magistrate of religion and publishing them in vernacular so that a Mymensingh. He worked as a deed writer at the office great majority of Bengali knowing people could of this Magistrate. He left this job and joined comprehend them easily. Hardinge School in Mymensingh and studied up to normal class. Later on, he became a teacher of this With this object in view, Maulavi Bhai Girish School. In 1871 under the influence of Keshab Chandra Sen, one of the proponents of the Naboday Chandra Sen and Vijoy Krishna Goshami, he Brahma Samaj, was entrusted with the converted to the Brahma religion. According to the responsibilities of translating Al-Quran, biographies instructions of Keshab Chandra Sen, Girish Chandra of Muslim religious personalities and their went to Lucknow, to learn Arabic with Ehsan Ali remarkable works into Bengali. At that time Persian, Saheb in 1876. After coming back from Lucknow he Arabic and Bengali knowing Muslims were no less further learnt Arabic with Maulavi Alimuddin in but they dared not do it--partly because of some fear Calcutta. Girish Chandra Sen was a self-educated psychosis that would play into their minds that person. It is true that he couldn't attain higher translating the holy Quran into Bengali might be a education but with his own efforts learnt Arabic, sinful act and they might be the victims of God's Persian, Sanskrit, Bengali and a little bit of English. wrath for this act and partly because of adverse From the beginning of his student life, he used to lead criticism from the Muslim intelligentsia. a very simple life.

However one Muslim named Glulam Akbar Khan of He married Brahmamayee Devi of Bhatpara village Calcutta dared to translate the Holy Quran in part but in Dacca district in the year 1856. As he adopted the the credit of translating the entire Quran goes to Bhai Braham faith, he was ostracized from society; at that Girish Chandra Sen. Bhai Girish Chandra was born in time his wife was his only source of inspiration as well the year 1835 at Panchadona village under the sub- as consolation. So when his wife expired prematurely division Narayangunj in the family of Darponarayan within a few years of his married life, he was Ray who was the Dewan of Nawab Aliburdi. He was overwhelmed with profound grief. After the expiry of the youngest child of his parents Madhabram and his wife he was so upset that he could not settle Joykali Debi. His grandfather and great grandfather himself in one place for long and started virtually a were well versed in the Persian language and wandering life as a monk. specialists in Persian calligraphy. He worked for some time as a journalist and used to

24 write in a weekly named Dhaka Prakash and was also he gave the literal meaning, in some places only the the reporter in charge of Mymensingh district. He summary and sometimes he even deleted some was the editor of Bongo Bandhu Patrika and Mahila portions. The translation has been completed in six Patrika for some time. Girish Chandra Sen observed volumes, published between 1880 and 1895. After that the objective of the The Mahila was to remove having gone through Tajkiratul Awlia Girish superstitions that were deep rooted among women in Chandra Sen was so overwhelmed that he could not the country and prevent obscenity and indecency control the temptation of translating it into Bengali. which are being imported from foreign culture. It He would regard it as an act of virtue to discuss the carried on its efforts to educate women and to holy life of the Sufi saints. He also undertook this task increase their self-esteem and self-confidence. Girish in an attempt to remove the misconception of the non- Chandra Sen told about Paricharika which was Muslims about Islam. In the introduction of the published from the Braratiya Brahma Samaj: "It was Tapasmala Girish Chandra Sen admitted that he had my proposal and endevour that was behind this been profusely benefited by translating the book and Patrika. Though I did not take up the post of the editor said, "I have been charmed by studying the pious but I used to write regularly in this Patrika.” lives of the great Sufis of Islam and by their immortal messages I wanted my country men to study these He first left the post of Pandit from Mymensingh Zila lives, which will help in removing their deep-rooted School and came to Calcutta in 1875 to join the post of misconceptions about the Muslim community and a teacher in Keshab Chandra Sen's Girls School. He increasing their devotion to God as well as their again left this job to start preaching the message of respects towards the saints…. Besides some main Brahma Samaj countrywide. differences regarding the conception of Heaven and Hell, a great many similarities exist between the two He had an attack of cerebral stroke at old age, which religions i.e. Islam and Brahmo Samaj--and both paralysed his right hand. But this could not deter his believe in Monotheism, so there are ample scopes for enthusiasm and he started writing with his left hand developing a rapport between these two religions” and continued to do so till death. After long illness, he expired at the age of 76 years. Many people from both Girish Chandra Sen's greatest achievement was the communities attended his funeral procession. translation of the Holy Quran into Bengali. He completed Quran Sharif in twelve volumes along He wrote about forty two books in his life time. Most with footnotes from 1881 to 1885. It is to be noted that of these were either translations or adaptations of most scholars still believe that Girish Chandra Sen works in Persian and Arabic. Hitopokhanmala (1871) was the first to translate the Quran into Bengali. It is was a translation in Bengali prose from Gulistan and not entirely true. Ghulam Akbar Khan of Patwar Bustan written by Sheikh Sadi. Tattamala contains Bagan, Kolkata first translated the first volume anecdotes of a moral and religious import from a (Ampara) of Quran into Bengali in 1868. In 1871 Persian work. Hafiz was based on the moral sayings Amiruddin of Mukutpur village of Rangpur of the famous Persian poet Hafiz, published in 3 translated Ampara into Bengali. Rajendra Nath Mitra volumes between 1877 and 1892. Darbesh Diger Ukti also translated some part of the Quran into Bengali in (1877) is the Bengali translation of Tazkiratul Aulia 1879. But Girish Chandra Sen is to be undoubtedly originally written by Fariduddin Attar in Persian. credited as the first who translated the entire Quran Neetimala (1877) was translated from Aksir-e- i.e. 30 volumes of Quran into Bengali along with Hdayat, an Urdu work. Darbeshdiger Kriya (1878) footnotes. discusses the life of the Sufis. Dareshdiger Sadhan Pranali (1879) describes the method of meditation, The Bengali translation of the Quran by Girish prayer etc adopted by the Muslim Sufis. Chandra Sen was highly appreciated by the scholars Prabachanabali (1880) is the compilations of morals of the Calcutta Madrasah College like Ahmedullah, collected from the Holy Quran. Tapashmala, one of Abdul Aziz and Abdul Aala as "a faithful, literal the more important works of Girish Chandra, is the translation from a classic language as Arabic which Bengali translation of Tajkiratul Awlia originally varies so widely in its construction from all other written in Persian by Fariuddin Attar. In some places languages of the world…. The version of the Quran

25 above quoted has such a wonderful success that we Mala (1882) was based on a Persian work would wish the author would publish his name to the Mantikuttayar and on Masnabi of Rumi. It was public, to whom he has done such a valuable service, written in the form of small stories which convey and thus gain a personal regard from the public.” moral teachings. Apart from interesting facts many themes have also been discussed in it that really His Mahapurush Muhammader Jibon Charit is a delights the mind. biography of prophet Muhammad (sa) in three volumes. The first part (1886) contains the events of Maskat Masabih (Hadith) (1892-1908) is a Bengali his life up to his migration to Medina. The second translation of a well known work with commentary. volume (1887) describes the first five years of his life According to Muhammad Mansuruddin, "he was the after migration to Medina. The last volume (1887) first translator of the whole Maskat Sharif in Bengali." includes the events of the last part of the Prophets life. After the demise of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), his He also wrote the biographies of Prophet Ibrahim favorite companions known as Kholafa-E-Rashedin, (a.s.), Prophet David (a.s.) and Prophet Moses (a.s.) in who took up the leadership of Muslim Ummah, were a book called Mahapurush Charit ((1883-85). He described in Girish Chandra's book Charrijon consulted the Bible as well as Muslim works to write Dharmaneta (1906). this book. His autobiography, Amar Jibon was published in Tatta Kusum (1882) contains "small essays on subject 1907. We should all pay our homage to this great of religious interest based on a Persian work and ambassador of inter-religion understanding and issued by the Brahma Samaj of India." Tatta Ratna harmony.

National Mathematics Year 2012

While addressing the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887- 1920) on 26 December 2011, in Chennai, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh paid tribute to the famous mathematician by declaring his birthday, that is December 22, as the National Mathematics Day and the year 2012 as a whole as the National Mathematical Year. Dr. Singh hopes these steps will help in providing the additional impetus to the study of mathematics in India, apart from making Indians more aware of the work of Ramanujan. (International Business Times, December 26, 2011)

The prime Minister also spoke of the country's "long and glorious tradition of mathematics" and encouraged people to nurture the subject. He called Ramanujan "one of the greatest mathematicians the world has seen, whose extraordinary genius so very brightly lit up the world of mathematics in the second decade of the last century" and added that his genius was ranked by English mathematician G. H. Hardy in the same class as giants like Euler, Gauss, Archimedes and Isaac Newton.

Dr. Singh also spoke about the gradual decline of mathematics as a subject, pointing out that the country made considerable headway in the subject in the early years of the Common Era, only to see the subject lose centre-stage to other subjects. He stressed that Ramanujan's contributions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought the country back to the attention of mathematicians across the world.

He said, “Let me end by wishing the National Mathematical Year all success. I expect the activities initiated during this year would be continued in the coming years as well, so as to help our country make it to the forefront of education and research in mathematics. That is my ardent prayer….” (IBNS)

26 The Hon’ble Chief Minister Smt. Mamata Banerjee Lays the Foundation Stone of Aliah University Campus

It is a matter great joy that the Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal, Smt. Mamata Banerjee, laid the foundation stone of Aliah University Campus at New Town, Kolkata on 15 December 2011. On this occasion she expressed the hope that Aliah Univeristy would develop to be a centre fo excellence and students from not only West Bengal but also from all over India and even from other countries would come to study here. Her kind and encouraging words touched the heart of the audience consisting of a number of Hon’ble Ministers, distinguished guests,, the teachers and the students of Aliah University. It is worth mentioning that the Govt. of West Bengal headed by the Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee had a allotted 24 acres of land at a prime location in New Town, Kolkata.

27 Aliah Faculty and Students at the 4th Science Conclave at IIIT, Allahabad

Three faculty members along with eight students of Aliah University participated in the 4th Science Conclave (26th Nov. to 2nd Dec. 2011) held at Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad. This science conclave is an interaction programme of Nobel Laureates and eminent national and international academicians, scientists, technologists and industrialists with selected students, young teachers and researchers to inspire and motivate them towards careers in Basic Sciences. Three faculty members and eight students of our university went to attend the 4th science conclave. The faculty members and the students took part in the interactive session with the Nobel Laureates and eminent national and international scientists. Two students of the Department of Chemistry presented posters and Dr. Sk. Faruque Ahmed, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics presented his research paper entitled “Nanostructure evolution on polypropylene induced by low energy Ar ion beam irradiation” in this conclave.

Faculty members and Students of Aliah Dr. Sk. Faruque Ahmed, Assistant Professor, Dept. of University with Professor Doglus Curie. Physics, Aliah University presenting his research paper entitled "Nanostructure evolution on polypropylene induced by low energy Ar ion beam irradiation" in the 4th Science Conclave, Allahabad.

rd Asif Arfan Seikh, Student 3 year, Department Nurunnesa Siddiqui Student 3 r d year, of Chemistry with his poster on “Antibacterial Department of Chemistry with her poster on Drug” along with Dr. Harun Al Rashid Gazi. “Anti- tubercular Drug: Structure and Mechanism” along with Dr. Md. Maidul Islam.

28 Students’ Seminar at the Department of English

The Department of English at Aliah University organized a student seminar on "Perspectives on the British Romantic Poetry" on December 8, 2011. The titles of the papers presented by the students of the 2-year masters program are as follows:

1. Revival of Medievalism in the Romantic Era (Alamin Sk., MA 2nd yr) 2. Birds as the Media of Expressing Romantic Ecstasy (Jarqua Jarrin, MA 1st yr) 3. Theme of Liberty Evinced in Romantic Poetry (Shabana Sayeed, MA 1st yr) 4. 'An Addition of Strangeness to Beauty'-a Mode in Appreciating Romantic Poetry (Sagufta Sahin, MA 2nd yr) 5. Lucy Poems as Impassioned Lyrics (Firoz Ahmed, MA 2nd yr)

The presentations were followed by an interesting question-answer session and a lively discussion that touched upon several literary issues. Vote of Thanks was offered by Reshma Begum (MA 2nd yr). Among the faculty members, Dr. Akram H. Mollah (Chair person), Dr. Paromita Mukherjee (Rapporteur), Dr. Amzed Hossein (Assessor), and Dr. P.C. Chakraborty (Key-note speaker) were present. A large number of students, who were present at the gathering, participated enthusiastically. The Department looks forward to more of such seminars in the near future.

Students receiving the certificates for their presentations.

29 Achievements Faculty:

Professor P.K.Nag, Professor of Aliah University, brought out the Third Edition of his book 'Heat and Mass Transfer' published by Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi in 2011, where he had gratefully acknowledged the help kindly extended by our V.C. Professor Samsul Alam.

Professor P.K.Nag, an Expert Member of the Review Committee (AICTE) on 'Virtual Laboratory' coordinated by the Mechanical Engineering Department of IIT, Kharagpur, attended a Workshop at the IIT, Kharagpur guest house, HC Block, Salt Lake, Sector-III, Kolkata in August,2011.

Sk. Faruque Ahmed* (Aliah University), K. R. Lee and M. W. Moon (Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea), J. I. Yoon (Hansung University, Seoul, Republic of Korea) published a international journal paper “Characterization of nanoporous structures of polyimide induced by Ar ion beam irradiation”, Applied Surface Science, In Press (2011), doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.12.042.

Dr. Sk. Faruque Ahmed, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Aliah University presented a paper entitled Nanostructure evolution on polymer induced by Ar ion beam irradiation and study the optical and mechanical properties India-Australia International Workshop on Nanotechnology In Materials and Energy Application, (IAWNT-2011) on 29 - 31 Dec, 2011, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

Dr. Sk. Faruque Ahmed, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Aliah University presented a paper entitled “Nanostructure evolution on polypropylene induced by low energy Ar ion beam irradiation” 4th Science Conclave: A Congregation of Nobel laureates, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, from 26th Nov. to 2nd Dec. 2011.

Dr. Md. Hedayetullah Mir, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Aliah University, has published the following paper: “M. H. Mir, J. X. Ong, G. K. Kole, G. K. Tan, M. J. McGlinchey, Y. Wu and J. J. Vittal, “Photoreactive gold(I) macrocycles with diphosphine and trans, trans- muconate Ligands,” Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 11633. It is a peer-reviewed scientific journal with the highest impact factor (5.787) for any chemistry journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Dr. Md. Mehedi Kalam, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Aliah University published journal paper entitled “A comparison of Horava--Lifshitz gravity and Einstein gravity through thin-shell wormhole construction”, Collaboration with Prof. Peter K . F. Kuhfittig (Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA),Dr. F. Rahaman(Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India) Dr. A. A. Usmani(Aligarh Muslim University, UP,India) and Dr. S. Ray( Govt. College of Engineering and Ceramic Technology,Kolkata,India) in Classical Quantum Gravity 28, 155021 (2011)

Dr. Md. Mehedi Kalam, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Aliah University published journal paper entitled “Modeling galactic halos with predominantly quintessential matter” Collaboration with Dr. F. Rahaman and D. Hossain(Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India), Prof. Peter K . F. Kuhfittig (Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA), K. Chakraborty (A Government Training College, Hooghly,India ) in International Journal of Theoretical Physics. 50, 2655 (2011)

Dr. Md. Mehedi Kalam, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Aliah University has Delivered a talk on “Perfect fluid dark matter” in the International Workshop on Dark Energy held at the Center For Theoretical Physics, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi during 21st to 23rd December, 2011.

30 Dr. Md. Mehedi Kalam, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Aliah University has visited Inter- University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) , Pune as a Visiting Associates of IUCAA on January 06-21, 2012 for research work and discussed various research topics with National and International delegates.

Dr. Harun Al Rasid Gazi, along with Biswajit Guchhait, Ranjit Biswas and Namrata Sarma, Jayanta M. Borah and Sekh Mahiuddin, has published the following paper “Influence of Chain Length of Alcohols on Stokes’ Shift Dynamics in Catanionic Vesicles” as a collaborative work in The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B 2011, 115, 9040-9049.

Dr. Sadek Hossain Mallik, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, Aliah University has participated in the “International Conference on Recent Development in Mathematical Sciences and Their Applications” held during December 9-11, 2011 in Calcutta Mathematical Society, Kolkata.

Dr. Sadek Hossain Mallik, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, Aliah University has participated in the “Symposium on Recent Trends in Theoretical Physics and Applied Mathematics” held on 24th September, 2011 in Institute of Theoretical Physics, Kolkata.

Dr. Sadek Hossain Mallik along with Mohsin Islam and M. Kanoria, has published the following paper: “Study of dynamic response in a two dimensional transversely isotropic thick plate with spatially varying heat sources and body forces”, Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, 32(10), 1315-1332, 2011.

Mukandar Sekh, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aliah University has presented a paper entitled “Development of an Empirical Method to Measure the Wire Lag in WEDM” and published in the Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on “Precision, Meso, Micro and Nano Engineering”, pp. 224-228, organized by Department of Production Engineering, College of Engineering, Pune, 10-11 December, 2011.

Dr. Ashraf Hossain, Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics & Communication Engg. (ECE) has become the Member of the Editorial Board, Journal of Communications of Information Science and Management Engineering (CISME) in 2011. Dr. Hossain also has become the Technical Program Committee (TPC) member of the Mosharaka International Conference on Communications and Signal Processing (MIC-CSP 2012) which will be held at Barcelona, Spain during April 6-8, 2012.

Dr. Ashraf Hossain, published the following two papers: [1] Ashraf Hossain, “On the Impact of Energy Dissipation Model on Characteristic Distance in Wireless Networks,” in the Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Communication and Industrial Application 2011 (ICCIA 2011), Science City, Kolkata, India, December 26-28, 2011.

Dr. Ashraf Hossain, “Network Configuration and Energy-Efficient Compression to Maximize Network Lifetime in Wireless Image Sensor Network,” in the Proceedings of the National Conference on Emerging Area of Photonics & Electronics 2011 (EAPE 2011), B. P. Poddar Institute of Management and Technology, Kolkata, India.

Dr. Md. Mustaquim, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Aliah University, Kolkata has published two research papers: !“A Comparative Analysis of Housing Shortage and Levels of Deprivation in India”, European Journal of Social Sciences (ISSN: 1450-2267), Vol. 27, No. 2, January, 2012, pp.193-205. !“Female Literacy and Levels of Socio-Economic Development in West Bengal: A Geographical Analysis”, Education Today: An International Journal of Education & Humanities (ISSN: 2229-5755), Vol. 2, No. 2, July- December, 2011, pp.20-32.

31 "FSO: An Alternative to High Speed Communication Technology", Md. Asraful Sekh, Proceeding of the International Conference on Laser, Material Science and Communication, 'ICLMSC-2011', Burdwan University, Burdwan, Dec 7-9, 2011, pp. 228-230.

Dr. Sudarshana Sen, Dept of Sociology, has published an article published on 'Feminist Methodology' (in Bengali) in an edited book by Dr. Basabi Chakraborty Named: 'Nar Prithwi: Bohu Swar' from URBEE PRAKASHAN in 2011 (ISBN: 978-93-80648-10-1).

Dr. Sudarshana Sen, delivered a Lecture as a Panelist on 'Inhabiting Interdisciplinary Spaces: Sharing Experiences' in a Workshop on Gender and Politics: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching and Research School of Women's Studies, Jadavpur University on 23 February 2011.

Dr. Sudarshana Sen, presented a research paper,”Everyday Life of Anglo-Indian Women in Kolkata” in a two day National Conference on Pratyaha: Everyday Lifeworld organized by Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata on 20 -21 October 2011. She was an invited speaker at an UGC Sponsored International Conference on Human Rights at Bijoy Krishna Girls' College, Howrah on 16 December 2011.

"Anamorphic gradient index (GRIN) lens for beam shaping", N SoodBiswas, Md. A Sekh, S Sarkar, A Basuray, accepted for publication on 19.12.2011, in the International Journal of 'Optics Communication'.

Kh. Jinnatul Islam, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, has been awarded Chartered Engineer (India) by Institution of Engineers (India) has become a member of International Association of Engineers (Hong Kong).

BOOK CHAPTERS PUBLICATIONS 1. Electron field emission properties of nonmetal and metal doped diamond like carbon; Sk. Faruque Ahmed*, In: Y. S. Tanaka (Eds.); “Diamond like Carbon”, Nova Science Publishers, NY, USA, ISBN 978-1-61324-791-4, (2011). 2. Optical properties diamond like carbon thin films; Sk. Faruque Ahmed*, In: T. Eisenberg and E. Schreiner (Eds.); Diamonds: Properties, Synthesis and Applications”, Nova Science Publishers, NY, USA, ISBN 978-1-61470-591-8, (2011).

Students: Aliah Students at Infocom Science Fair at Milan Mela Ground

Tanvir Alam Md. Sk., Md. Sohail and Md. Ataur Safi Rahaman Loshkar presented a model on “ Foot step generating electricity”, in Infocom Science Fair held on 09.12.2001 to 12.12.2011 at Milan Mela ground under the guidance of Dr. Md. Maidul Islam.

32 Courses Offered by

1. a) 3-year Kamil (Hons & Gen.) in Islamic Theology b) 2-year Mumtazul Mohaddethin c) 3-year Arabic (Hons)

2. 5 - year Inegrated M. Sc. a) Computer Science b) Chemistry (with specialisation in Medical Chemistry c) Physics (with specialisation in Engineering Physics) d) Mathematics and Computing e) Statistics and Informatics f) Economics g) Geography

3. a) 5-year Integrated MCA. b) 5-year Integrated MBA (with specialisation in Hospital, Retail and Financial Management)

4. 4-year B.Tech / 5-year dual-degree M.Tech a) Computer Science and Engineering b) Electronics and Electronic Communication Engineering c) Electrical Engineering d) Civil Engineering e) Mechanical Engineering

5. a) 5-year Integrated M.A. : English b) 2-year M.A. / M. Sc. : Journalism and Mass Communication c) 2-year M.A. : (I)Engish; (ii) Bengali; (iii) History d) 2-year M.Sc. : Geography

All the courses except those in Section 1 are taught under the Semester system. Letter Grading has been adopted in the examination systems.

For details of admission process contact the University Office or visit the University Website : www.aliah.ac.in Proposed G+20 Building of Aliah University at New Town, Kolkata

A building under construction at the city campus of Aliah University, 17 Gora Chand Road, Kolkata - 700 014