NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed the centenary celebrations of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) via video conferencing.
This is the first time PM Modi will participate in a program of the Aligarh Muslim University. PM Modi also released a postal stamp during the event. AMU Chancellor Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin & Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank attended the event.
Earlier in the week, buildings in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) were illuminated for its centenary celebrations.
Here are the top quotes from PM Modi's address: - I express my gratitude for inviting me to join the centenary celebrations of Aligarh Muslim University.
- AMU alumni are spread across the world and take a lot of pride in their alma mater. Their pride is justified. In 100 years of existence, AMU has given its students a scientific and progressive approach to life.
- The contributions made by the university during the coronavirus pandemic were unprecedented. They helped people get tested for free, built isolation wards, started plasma banks, provided hospital beds, and helped society.
- In the last 100 years, AMU has also worked to strengthen India's relations with many countries of the world. The research done in AMU on Urdu, Arabic, and Persian languages, research on Islamic literature, gives new energy to India's cultural relations with the entire Islamic world.
- I have been told that at least 1,000 international students are currently enrolled in AMU.
- There is an onus on AMU students to share with the world everything good about India. They have a two-fold responsibility to contribute to nation-building and also help India bolster its soft power.
- AMU's founder Sir Syed had said that the growth of the country is above the caste and religion of the people.
- He had also given an example and said that for the body to remain healthy, every body part should be healthy.
- Sir Syed had also said that religion should not be the reason for anyone's backwardness.
- I recently met an AMU alumnus who is also a scholar and told him that we made free toilets and no discrimination was done in their construction. Every community benefitted from these free toilets.
- Earlier, the dropout rate of Muslim girls was 70 per cent due to lack of toilets and now it is only 30 per cent.
- The policies made by the government reach every section irrespective of their religion. Bank accounts of over 40 crore poor have been opened without any discrimination. Without discrimination, more than 2 crore poor were provided pucca houses. More than 8 crore women were given gas connections without discrimination.
- 50 crore people got free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh under the Ayushman scheme without any discrimination. What belongs to the country belongs to every countryman and every citizen should be benefited, our government is working with this spirit.
- In AMU as well, a bridge course has been started for students who had to drop out.
- Thirty-five per cent of students in AMU today are female, I congratulate AMU for this feat.
- Politics is a part of society but there are more important things in life. Politics cannot be a measure for everything. I urge people to not look at everything from a political lens. Campuses like AMU can play a key role in contributing to this approach.
- There are people who spread all kinds of negativity. But if we sideline them, we can grow.
- The poor cannot wait, the uneducated cannot wait for politics. A lot of time has already been wasted on differences. Let us come together to work for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
AMU became a University in 1920, through an Act of the Indian Legislative Council by elevating the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College to the status of a Central University. MAO College was set up in 1877 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the PMO release stated.
The University has a campus spread over 467.6 hectares of land in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. It also has three off-campus centres in Malappuram (Kerala), Murshidabad-Jangipur (West Bengal) and Kishanganj (Bihar).