HYDERABAD: Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) is in the eye of a storm with its chancellor Firoz Bakht Ahmed raising his voice against the goings-on in the campus. The recently-appointed chancellor is the grand nephew of Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, in whose memory the varsity has been christened.
Ahmed said he had received several complaints against the head of the Mass Communication and Journalism (MCJ) department of the varsity for subjecting girl students to “humiliation and harassment” and alleged that the university, instead of taking action against the alleged harasser, was shielding him. The institution’s head claimed though a student had approached Raidurgam Police, varsity authorities covertly managed to get the case closed without investigation.
Ahmed has also accused vice-chancellor Dr Mohammad Aslam Parvaiz of entering the girls' hostel for checks. He elaborated that he had received complaints that the vice-chancellor would do rounds in the girls' hostel despite it being the job of the warden, and also at times “inspect” toilets and comment on “girls hanging their undergarments outside for drying”.
The chancellor went on to say that during a meeting on October 4, the vice-chancellor and pro-vice-chancellor used “vitriolic and abusive language” against him and dismissed his suggestions on establishing Maulana Azad Centre for Progressive Studies and Centre for the Empowerment of Muslim Women.
AHMED’S long list of complaints against the university includes embezzlement of funds, tyrannical behaviour with students, teachers and kramacharis, nepotism in appointments and transfer and suspension of those raising their voice against wrongdoing in the campus. The ways of the university’s authorities had led to a fall in the quality of education, fear psychosis and the suppression of girl students, as per a media release by the chancellor.
“I have written to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the President of India and also to the Prime Minister about the issues. If they do not initiate an inquiry, I will approach the Supreme Court,” he said. When contacted, MANUU V-C Dr Parvaiz told Express the chancellor should have brought his concerns to the notice of authorities. “Making baseless allegations serves no purpose but to defame a reputed institute,” he said. Several faculty members of the University Express spoke to said they were disturbed by the allegations made by the chancellor.
A few of them accused Ahmed of harbouring political motives and said he was a member of the RSS. They also alleged that he had close ties with the BJP dispensation. It is relevant to note that a majority of MANUU’s students are Muslims, many of them from north India. MANUU Alumni Association president Aijaz Ali Qureshi said the chancellor’s allegations against the vice-chancellor were baseless and requested all Urdu institutions to boycott Ahmed, calling him an “RSS man”. “It is due to this connection that he got chancellorship,” he alleged.