AMU centenary: V-C to bury time capsule of university on Republic Day

LUCKNOW: The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will script another page of history on Republic Day when Vice-Chancellor Prof Tariq Mansoor would bury a time capsule containing the history and achievements of the institution in front of the Victoria Gate on the campus as part of the centenary year celebrations on Republic Day on January 26.

As per the university administration, the event will be held to commemorate completing 100 years of its establishment as part of its centenary celebrations. The capsule, five-foot-long and weighing 1.5 tonnes -- will be placed 30 feet beneath the ground. The historic event would be aired online, said Dr. Rahat
Abrar, chairman of the content committee and spokesperson for AMU.

Dr. Abrar said that the time capsule was made up of highly tempered steel weighing 1.5 tonnes. To safeguard the material inside, nitrogen gas was filled and the acid-resistant paper was being used to ensure the longevity of the time capsule.

A committee was constituted to determine the content to be placed in the capsule and Abrar was made its chairman while AMU registrar Abdul Hamid was its general convenor.

A similar exercise of burying a time capsule was undertaken by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of AMU, on January 8, 1877, during the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College though it was not termed as so, said Shafey Kidwai, the head of the mass communication department at AMU and another spokesperson of the university.

The ceremony in 1877 was held in the presence of the then Viceroy of India, Lord Edward Robert Lytton in Aligarh. The district gazette dated January 12, 1877, reportedly makes a mention of a similar exercise. It mentioned a bottle that carried details about Madarastul Uloom (a madarsa upgraded to MAO College) along with coins made of copper, gold, and silver which placed in the cavity of the foundation stone.

“The event, part of the AMU’s centenary year celebrations, will be held online at 11 am and the V-C will be the chief guest on the occasion,” stated Abrar.

“Sir Syed was in Varanasi when he thought of the university, which came into being in 1920. We have compiled the history and achievements of AMU since its beginning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released the stamp for AMU’s centenary celebrations on December 22, 2020,” he added.

On September 9, 1920, the then viceroy Lord Chelmsford had passed the bill for the upgrade of Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College to the status of a university.