Former President Pranab Mukherjee will be the chief guest on the 200th or bicentennial birth celebrations of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) founder, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, on October 17. Mukherjee will give the commemoration address at the university’s Athletics Ground while AMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor will deliver the welcome address.

On the day, the V-C, along with Manisha Sinha, Post Master General, Agra Region, UP, will also release an album with a special cover on Sir Syed, My Ticket, brochure and a stamp with AMU logo

Prof Mansoor will also inaugurate an exhibition of books and photographs on Sir Syed Ahmad Khan at Sir Syed House. The exhibition is being jointly organised by Maulana Azad Library and Sir Syed Academy.

Sir Syed Awards

The V-C will also present the ‘Sir Syed International and National Awards of Excellence’to Prof David Lelyveld, author of ‘Aligarh’s First Generation: Muslim Solidarity in British India’ (1975/1996), and Justice M S A Siddiqui, the former chairperson, National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions of India-NCMEI).

AMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor

The chief guest at Sir Syed’s 199th anniversary celebrations was then University Grants Commission 9 (UGC) Chairman Ved Prakash.

Meanwhile, AMU Alumni Affairs Committee, too, has organised the Sir Syed Bicentenary Annual Alumni Meet 2017 where alumni of the university from across the world reconnected with their alma mater. The two-day meet began on Sundayat the university’s Kennedy Auditorium and will conclude with a valedictory function on Monday.

Presiding over the inaugural function, V-C Mansoor said “AMU  established as the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875 and became a public central university in 1920 with the consistent efforts of its alumni”.

The V-C also discussed the “enormous” contribution of alumni through the Aligarh Open University (AOU), an initiative facilitated by the Federation of Aligarh Alumni Associations (FAAA), North America to share knowledge and professional experiences with current AMU students.

The V-C pointed out that branches of Alumni Affairs Committee have established in various faculties and the same connected with a central body. “This is helping us have a proper database of alumni spread all over the world and to create an alumni directory.”

Prof Tahir Mehmood (Former Chairperson, National Commission for Minorities, Government of India—GOI), who attended the function as the chief guest said members from four generations of his family including himself have studied at AMU.