Founders’ Day Celebration at Women’s College

Aligarh : Today, the Women’s College of Aligarh Muslim University commemorated its Founder’s Day in the College Auditorium, marking the marriage anniversary of Sheikh Abdullah, affectionately known as “Papa Mian,” and Begum Waheed Jahan, renowned as “Alaa Bi.” The Women’s College distinguishes itself by celebrating its Founder’s Day on the occasion of their marriage anniversary rather than their birth anniversaries, thereby paying homage to Begum Waheed Jahan’s pivotal role in founding and administering the college.

The event was graced by Prof. Mohammad Gulrez, Vice-Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University, alongside the Chief Guest, Prof. Sukrita Paul Kumar. The dignitaries in attendance included Prof. Naima Khatoon, Principal, Women’s College, Prof. Zakiya Siddiqui, Secretary, Female Education Association and Prof. Shagufta Imtiyaz, Co-ordinator, Founders’ Day. The students of the Fine Arts section presented them with paintings as a token of appreciation.

Chief Guest Sukrita Paul Kumar gripped everyone’s attention through her words of wisdom; urging students to introspect and seek sense of their life’s purpose, then work diligently in that direction to conquer great heights. While addressing the audience she talked about renowned women writers like Ismat Chugtai. She mentioned that the women from around the globe had to struggle for education and other rights, but for the girls of Aligarh Papa Miyan came as a Messiah who made this struggle for education quite easy for girls, because he fought on their behalf. Towards the end of her address, she applauded the planning of the event as well as captivating music and poetry.

Addressing the audience, Prof. Mohammed Gulrez attributed the success of Women’s College to its founder, Papa Mian. He urged the students to develop critical thinking and scientific temperament. Reflecting on the contributions of historical figures like Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh towards women-education, he advised the students to explore their biographies in order to learn more from them.He highlighted Begum Sultan Jahan’s unforgettable contribution and role even in the resistance movement of 1906 and emphasized the early establishment of Women’s College in 1937, preceding institutions like Miranda House, and Lady Shree Ram College for Women etc.

In her address, Prof. Naima Khatoon, fondly recalled Papa Miyan and reflected on the transformative journey of the institution, from its humble beginnings with only a few courses, the college has flourished, expanding its infrastructure and buildings. She commends the college’s unwavering commitment to education, women empowerment, and the delivery of high-quality education. With a current student body of over 3000, including NRIs from diverse countries like Bangladesh, Malaysia and Egypt, she expresses her pride in the college’s global recognition. She also read annual report of the college.

To honour the persistent efforts and unflinching determination of the students, the first segment of the awards celebrated the academic excellence blooming amongst the undergraduates enrolled in the various courses of the college.

The awardees included Zara Habeeb of English (Shoa Fatima Memorial Award), Dinisha Nanwani of Commerce (Ale Ahmad Suroor Award), Sabrin Irshad of Urdu (Miss. Razia Khanam Memorial Award), Maryam Jilani of Economics (Miss Aliya Khanam Award), Adeeba Yusuf of Mathematics (HjahAness Fatima Award) and Noor Jahan Aara of Statistics (Hajah Anees Fatima Award).

Series of book were also released which is a testament to the literary excellence and acumen of faculty of Women’s College. From the Urdu section, the first book to be released was by Dr. Afsana Parveen titled “Adab aur Sha’or-e-Adab, followed by the work of Dr. Zarina Khatoon, a collection of author’s own articles in Urdu and Persian and Dr. Mohd. Ghani Khan’s “Sawan-e-Hayat, Begum Abdullah: A Biography on Begum Waheed Jahan.

The session also included the release of Dr. Sadaf Fareed’s book, “The Study of Interfaith Dialogue in G-20”, Prof. Sarika Varshney’s translation titled “VeruRao”, Dr. Shagufta Niyaz’s “Kashmir Upanyason Ke Aine Mai” and Dr. Ambreen Aftab’s “Hazar Rang Mai Dubi Hui Hawa” which she has co-authored with Miss. Namita Singh. The last two releases were dr. Firoz Ahmad’s “Place Identity and Politics in Resource Extraction” and Dr. Shivangini Tandon’s “Mapping Women: Discourse of Gender in 18th -19th Century India”.

In the second segment of the awards, a number of students were felicitated for their academic determination. These awards were presented by Prof. Zakiya Siddiqui.

These comprised of Amna Mehdi (Masooda Adhami Award for History), Ashna Khan (Abida Sameeuddin Award for Political Science), Zara Habib (Prof. Zahida Zaidi Award for English), Maryam Jilani (Naina Lal Kidwai Award for Economics), Zubiya Naushad (Bala Subramanyam Award for Sanskrit), Amna Mehdi (Fatima Zahra Bilgrami Award for History), Sabrin Irshad (Prof. Suraiya Hussain Award for Literature).

Awards that were given by the Dean of Students’ Welfare to the graduate students were bagged by Tanya Kainaat (Dr. Razia Khan Prize for English Studies), Bisma Tahreem Rashid Frooqui (Dr. Razia Khan Prize for Islamic Studies), Meena Sengar (Ms. Nikhat Shawar Hussain Edu. Trust Award), Sanjana Kumari (Ms.Anjalina Khan Memorial Award for B.Sc. VIth Semester), Masooma Khan (Zahida Suroor Award for Psychology), Syeda Adeeba (Dr. Qaiser Jahan Award for Creative Writing), Syeda Aqsa (Begum Roshan Masood Award for Creative Writing). Tanya Kainat, Bisma Tahreem Rashid Farooqui, Ilma Athar, Arisha Khan were also given, the Mohd. Manaluddin Award.

Women’s College celebrated the achievements of its students for their outstanding academic performance as well as for incredible talent in extracurricular activities. Amongst them, Mariya Noor was awarded the Zakir Husain Award while Mariyam Hameeda received the esteemed Mumtaz Jahan Memorial Award. Moreover, the title of Best Girl of Women’s College for the session 2023-24 was presented to Syed Aqsa who was also honoured with the most prestigious Papa Mian Padma Bhushan Award. Their diligent efforts and exceptional accomplishments left their parents and teachers overwhelmed with pride & created an atmosphere of jubilation.

The programme was jointly conducted by Prof. Nazia Hasan and Dr. Humaira Mehmood Afridi.

Concluding the event, Dr. Bushra Hussain proposed the vote of thanks.