Jamia Millia Islamia celebrated its 93rd Foundation Day on 29 October. Having come into existence in 1920 at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh and later on shifted to the national capital, the Jamia is now among torch-bearers of the Muslim community towards a better future. Its faculty of education or more commonly known as Teachers Training Institute (TTI) is the first institute in India promoted to the Institute of Advanced Study in Education by the University Grant Commission. Also, its Departments of Mass Communication, Social Work and Arabic, to name only a few, are of international fame.
Anyway, the Foundation Day of the university is the most festive day for both students and staff members of the institution. The preparation for the Day usually starts months in advance. Cultural activities, mushaira, exhibition and undoubtedly the much-sought-after decoration of the campus have been integral parts of its Foundation Day so far. This year also the university carried forward the tradition and organised several interesting programmes such as All India Mushaira, Mahfile Sufiyana Kalam and Ghazal, inter-faith dialogue and lectures on topics such as “Usage of Jamia’s Talent in Facing Challenges of 21st Century”.
But the 3-day celebration did not attract as much students as it used to in past. Musheer Alam, General Secretary, Subject Association of the Faculty of Education, says, “There was nothing special for the day – classes run as usual, no extracurricular activity at department levels took place on the occasion to involve general students.”
In previous years, the weeklong celebration, which has been now reduced to three days or rather to a single day, would witness a wide range of activities in interest of common students such as Tamseeli Mushaira (a kind of Mushaira where participants portray different poets), Book Fair, cultural and extracurricular activities by almost all departments/faculties and others which add colour and charm to the day; hence compelling students to take interest therein.
“For me, Tamseeli Mushaira and book fare were the most attractive parts of the foundation day celebration and since the two events disappeared from the list of events on the day, I found nothing interesting for me,” says Md Hamid who completed his master in physics last year from the university.
Ask Mohd Kaleem, a student of MA Arabic, as to what stopped him from attending Mushaira which still have attraction for some and pat comes the answer, “No Sho’ara (poet) of national and international fame was invited. It seemed that it was an in-house programme of a particular department. So, why should I waste my time in such an event which neither entertains nor benefits me?”
Musheer Alam suggests that organising inter-university as well as inter-department competitions of extracurricular activities on the occasion might bring back the charm of the day. Absolutely it can, but amid hue and cry of restoring charm of the foundation day, none could hear the voice of the founders pleading every student and staff member individually to serve the purpose Jamia was formed for.
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