AMU observes ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’
Aligarh : A series of events took place at various departments and centres of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to celebrate the Nation-wide ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and commemorate 75 years of glorious years of Indian independence.
A ‘Prabhat Pheri’ rally was flagged off at 7: 30 am from the National Service Scheme (NSS) Office, AMU to the Marris Road intersection to sensitise people about the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign and ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ observations.
“AMU NSS student volunteers, office staff and programme officers raised patriotic slogans and motivated people to hoist the National Flag at their residences in the rally. They were cheered and greeted by spectators and onlookers”, said Arshad Husain (Programme Coordinator, NSS).
He informed that another such ‘Prabhat Pheri’ from NSS office to the Lal Diggi Circle will take place on Sunday morning.
At the Department of Mass Communication, faculty members and guests delivered speeches to mark the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Attending the programme as the Chief Guest, AMU Pro Vice Chancellor, Prof Mohammad Gulrez stressed the importance of national unity and called upon the students to participate in works of national interest.
Guest of Honour, Col R K Singh shared experiences of serving the Country and highlighted the important role of youth in the Indian Army in his talk on ‘The Role of Youth in Serving the Nation’.
Presiding over the programme, Prof Mirza Asmar Beg discussed how citizens can help in making a vibrant democracy and urged students to contribute in National development.
Prof Pitabas Pradhan (Chairman, Department of Mass Communication) delivered the welcome address and introduced the guests.
Dr Huma Parveen conducted the programme.
Faculty members Prof Shafey Kidwai, Prof Afrina Rizvi, Dr G K Sahu, and Mohd Anas spoke on the importance of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
A group of Mass Communication students also performed a patriotic skit, ‘Our Tricolor’.
‘India Wins Freedom’, a documentary to sensitise students on the Freedom Struggle was also screened.
In the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ Programme of the Department of Physics on the theme, ‘Freedom Struggle: Thoughts and Remembrance’, Prof B P Singh (Chairman) said that the idea behind the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of people and promote awareness about the Tricolour.
He urged people to hoist the Tricolour at their residences and celebrate the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
Prof M Sajjad Athar discussed the Indian economy and its ups and downs in his talk on ‘India’s Economic and Scientific Development’, as envisioned by the Indian National Movement.
He explained how British rule exploited the economy and disturbed the social harmony of the Nation.
Speaking on ‘India before and after Independence’, Prof I A Rizvi paid homage to Nation’s real heroes and discussed their sacrifices.
He also sang a patriotic song.
Dr Abbas Ali talked about the Indian Freedom Struggle and the roles of the great freedom fighters.
Dr S K Gupta spoke on the contribution of Surayya Tyabji in designing the National Flag,
Dr N Alam, Dr S S Z Ashraf and Sachin Kumar recited patriotic poems.
Dr Rafi Alam extended the vote of thanks.
In a special interaction programme of the Department of Economics on the implementation of the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign, faculty members urged students to hoist the National Flag at their residences from August 13 to 15.
“The ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ initiative will inspire everyone to become more patriotic. This Independence Day will be special as the Tricolour will be hoisted in every corner, street and bylane of the Country”, said Prof Md Abdus Salam (Chairman, Department of Economics).
Programme conveners Dr Md Qaiser Alam and Dr Shahina Perween informed that Tricolours were also distributed to students and teachers.
At the University Polytechnic, an awareness programme was held to sensitise students and staff members on the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign.
Prof Arshad Umar (Principal, University Polytechnic) urged students and teachers to display the National Flag at their homes.
He pressed for creating a personal connection with the National Flag and contributing to Nation-building.
Doctors and postgraduate students of the Department of Ilaj Bit Tadbeer, Ajmal Khan Tibbiya College (AKTC) provided over 100 students, patients and the university staff with free Bone Mass Density (BMD) screening in a health camp to observe the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
The camp was held in line with the ‘Hamara AYUSH Hamara Swasthya’ initiative of the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), Ministry of AYUSH.
Prof Mohd Anwar (Chairman, Department of Ilaj Bit Tadbeer) said that these screening camps help in early diagnosis of osteoporosis, prevention of fractures and management of musculoskeletal disorders like osteoarthritis, cervical and lumbar spondylosis.
Prof Asia Sultana, Dr M Saad A Khan and Dr M Shoaib counseled the patients.
In the Flower Arrangement competition on the theme, ‘Tiranga’ at the Centre for Skill Development and Career Planning, Rooma Raza bagged the first prize for arranging flowers on the pattern of the Tricolour National Flag.
Shubhi Tomar finished second and Juwairiya Aiman got the third prize. Special prizes were also given to Vani Bhargawa and Farzana Nikhat.
“A total of 30 students participated in the contest and their flower arrangements were judged by Dr Rafat Mukhtar and Mariyam Fatima”, said Prof Naima Khatoon (Director of the Centre)
Prof Naima also distributed prizes to the winners.
Dr Samreen Hasan Khan conducted the programme.
Faculty members planted tree saplings and delivered speeches at the Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies to mark the occasion.
Addressing the students and research scholars, the Chief Guest, Prof Naima Gulrez (Principal, Women’s College) urged students to bring out their best for the country’s development in different capacities.
Prof Azra Musavi (Director, Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies) drew the attention of the students to their responsibilities towards the nation.
Students also sang patriotic songs.
At the Department of Home Science undergraduate and postgraduate students participated in poster-making and essay-writing contests on the theme, ‘Har GharTiranga’.
Speaking to the students, Prof Farzana Alim (Chairperson, Department of Home Science) discussed the importance and meanings of the three colours in the National Flag.
Later in a Group Discussion, students and faculty members spoke on ‘National Flag as the Symbol of the Nation’s Pride’.
A Tiranga rally to observe the ‘Har GharTiranga’ campaign was also held.
Dr Mariyam Fatima and Dr Iram Aslam conducted the programme and Zeba extended the vote of thanks.
An essay-writing contest on ‘Importance of Millet on Human Health’ was held at the Centre of Agricultural Education, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences to observe the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
Mohd Arif, Daniya and Rajat Verma stood first, second and third respectively in the postgraduate/ research category; while Risha Wahdat, Syed Mohammad Bashir Ali and Zaira S Hasan were declared the respective first, second and third place holders in the undergraduate category with Shivani Sharma winning the consolation prize.
The competitions were judged by Dr Majhrool Hak Ansari, Dr Tahir M Chauhan, Dr Arshi Jamil, Dr Zeba Khan, Dr Faheem Ahamad and Dr M Talha Ansari.
Prof Rais Ahmad (Dean, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences), Prof Iqbal Ahmad (Department of Agricultural Microbiology and the Programme Organizing Secretary) distributed certificates to the winners.
Dr Asad Faisal Farooqui (Phd, Mass Communication) delivered a special online lecture on ‘Aligarh’s Contribution in Freedom Movement’ to mark the ‘Har Ghar Jhanda’ and the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ campaigns of the Department of Moalejat, Faculty of Unani Medicine.
He discussed the contributions of AMU in the National Freedom Movement.
Presiding over the lecture, Prof Tabassum Latafat (Chairperson, Department of Moalejat) called for motivating the youth to learn about contributions of great leaders in Indian Independence.
Dr Mursaleen Naseer delivered the welcome address and Dr S Javed Ali conducted the programme.
BSc Computer Applications student Aman Tariq won the speech competition on ‘Role of ICT in Nation Building’ held to observe the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations of the Computer Science Society (CSS), Department of Computer Science.
Ahmad Raza Shibli finished as the Runner-up with Mohd Shonez receiving the consolation prize.
“Prof Mohammad Ubaidullah Bokhari distributed the prizes and Dr Swaleha Zubair, Dr Faisal Anwer and Dr Mohammad Sajid were the judges”, said Prof Aasim Zafar (Chairman, Department of Computer Science)
He added: “Faculty members also delivered speeches on the Indian Freedom struggle”.