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Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Vice-Chancellor General Zameer Uddin Shah pulled out of an event that was organised on Saturday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s close aide and Gujarat-based businessman Zafar Sareshwala in poll-bound Bihar. The V-C’s cancellation has, however, come with a caveat that he is “free to meet any person irrespective of their political affiliation”.
The event held in Patna is part of an ongoing campaign — Taleem ki Taqat (Power of Education)– started by Sareshwala to propagate Modi government’s plans for the education of minorities.
The VC’s participation in the event raised eyebrows on the campus as it had Union minister Ravishankar Prasad, NCERT director JS Rajput, an academic with RSS leanings, apart from Sareshwala as speakers.
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In a press statement, Shah has said that he regrets not attending the event and that he had to cancel it due to some “issue” on the campus.
The V-C has also clarified that he has no “personal agenda” or “political aspiration” and therefore his participation at the event was purely in the “interest” of the university.
When The Indian Express asked AMU Public Relations Officer Rahat Abrar why Shah has pulled out of the event, he said it was done after it became a talking point on the campus and a former student circulated the poster of the event on social media.
Besides, he added, the V-C was needed on the campus as Pro V-C was on leave.
Students and teachers at AMU had objected to Shah attending such an event close to Bihar elections
An AMU professor, on condition of anonymity, said: “Shah attending such events does not do the university or the community any good and that the V-C seemed to be playing into the hands of the BJP as the party eyes Bihar.”
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