Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Vice-Chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor requested people to keep the centenary programmes above politics just like Republic Day, Independence Day, Milad-un-Nabi and Gandhi Jayanti celebrations are kept above political differences.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest at the centenary celebrations of Aligarh Muslim University via video conferencing on December 22 this year. He will attend the virtual function along with Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
Thanking the Prime Minister for accepting the invitation to participate in the celebrations marking 100 years of the university, Professor Mansoor said, "The outreach of the university during this historical year would immensely help in the growth and development of the university and placement of our students in the private and public sectors."
Mansoor appealed to the university community to put in all efforts for the success of the forthcoming programmes and asked the staff members, students, alumni and AMU's well-wishers for their active participation.
He said President Ram Nath Kovind is expected to join other online centenary functions of the university.
"Centenary is a great landmark achievement in the history of any university. AMU and its various units, as well as Alumni Associations, have been organising various programmes attended by illustrious people from diverse fields through the virtual mode following the Government of India's guidelines to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic," said the V-C.
The change of chief guest appears to be a last-minute move, according to AMU sources.
Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College became Aligarh Muslim University on December 1, 1920, following a gazette notification. AMU was formally inaugurated as a university on December 17 that year.
