Aligarh: Maulana Azad Library at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has celebrated its Golden Jubilee on Wednesday i.e. December 8, 2010. It was inaugurated by noted historian Mushirul Hasan, who is the Director General of the National Archives of India.
As per sources, on December 6, 1960, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru had inaugurated the building of the Maulana Azad Library. He had also laid the foundation stone of the building on November 12, 1955. The completion of the building had taken five years during the tenure of Dr. Zakir Husain as the Vice Chancellor of AMU.
Former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia and AMU alumnus Mushirul Hasan said that the library is one of the finest in India. Stating that AMU has played a crucial task in the educational regeneration of Indian Muslims, he made an appeal for the revival of the Aligarh Movement in the context of present challenges.
Further, Prof. Hasan has said that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Maulana Azad both believed in an inclusive society. He also added that AMU should initiate a dialogue between other communities on religious civilization and Hindu-Muslim University. He also added that Jawahar Lal Nehru and Azad had put the university on right track after the partition of the country.
In his presidential remark, AMU Vice Chancellor P.K. Abdul Azis said that the library had witnessed remarkable transformations in the last three years to provide better services to its users. He informed that AMU has re-launched the Aligarh Movement for the first time in the history of the university by setting up its five centres in different parts of the country. Beside, three books on different topics were also released by the Vice Chancellor on the occasion.
