‘Don’t turn AMU into a madrassa’

ALIGARH: There is a quiet row erupting in the Aligarh Muslim University between students who call themselves liberals and the other faction that wants the famous varsity to go back to certain tenets of traditional Islam, like the use of burqa by women and holding of namaz five times a day.

The clash of ideologies, which has cleaved the student community in half, and simmering for a while now, has become even more apparent after a bunch of pupils who call themselves students of AMU put up posters of burqa-clad women for a seminar that, ironically, was on 'Women Empowerment: An Alternative in Focus'. In fact, senior lawyer Vrinda Grover, who was invited for the talk, was quoted by an English daily saying she pulled out of it after "she came to know about the group and its activities."

Shahab Ahmad, a fourth year student of law at AMU, and one of those who feels the liberal space in the campus is under attack, asked, "Why is AMU being turned into a madrassa? Should it become Aligarh Millat University? It's a central university, for god's sake."

Ahmad would have many students empathizing with him. Already, boys are reprimanded for wearing shorts in the hostel; even a kurta can land you in trouble. Girls can't wear sleeveless suits or capris. And, of course, no dancing on the campus, even during hostel nights. Terms like "vulgar" and "obscene" are liberally thrown around if women wear anything that is perceived to be remotely "glamorous."

The liberals, as some of them like to call themselves, are protesting the use of public spaces like the hostel common rooms for religious activities, like tajweed and dawa'ah, and for Quranic lessons.

Defending the group, Abdul Rouf, a member of Students of AMU, told TOI, "We don't force anyone. Such events have been happening in the university forever. Ask the administration why they are allowed."