Embassy of India

Cairo, Egypt

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed the Centenary Celebrations of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) today through video conference. He also released a postal stamp commemorating the event.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister recalled Sir Sayyad’s remark that the  'the first and foremost duty of one who is concerned about his country is to work for the welfare of all people. Irrespective of the caste, creed or religion.' The Prime Minister stressed that the country is proceeding on a path where every citizen is assured of his or her constitution-given rights, no one should be left behind due one’s religion and this is the basis of the pledge ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabk viswas’. Shri Modi gave examples of the government schemes providing benefits without any discrimination. Bank accounts of over 40 crore poor are opened without any discrimination. More than 2 crore poor were provided pucca houses, without discrimination. More than 8 crore women are getting gas connection without discrimination. About 50 crore people have availed free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh under Ayushman scheme without any discrimination. “Country’s resources belong to each and every citizen and should benefit all. Our government is working with this understanding” said the Prime Minister Modi.

Vision of new India envisages that the development of the nation and society should not be seen from a political angle. Shri Modi asked to be vigilant against misleading propaganda and keep the interest of the nation supreme in one’s heart. Politics can wait but society can not, similarly poor belonging to whichever section, can not wait. We can not waste time and should work together to create an Aatamnirbhar Bharat. For attainment of national goals, all differences must be set aside, Shri Modi added. 

The Prime Minister lauded Aligarh Muslim University for the unprecented contribution  to the society during the Corona pandemic. He added getting thousands of people to do free tests, building isolation wards, building plasma banks and contributing a large amount to the PM Care Fund shows the seriousness of fulfilling your obligations to society. He said today, with such organized efforts, India is successfully combating the global epidemic like Corona, keeping the country paramount.

The Prime Minister said that in the last 100 years, AMU has also worked to strengthen India's relations with many countries of the world. He further said the research done here on Urdu, Arabic and Persian languages, research on Islamic literature, gives new energy to India's cultural relations with the entire Islamic world. He said the University has the double responsibility to further enhance the soft power of the university as well as fulfilling the obligation of nation building.

The Prime Minister recalled a time when the drop out rate of Muslim daughters was more than 70 percent due to lack of toilets. He said the government built separate toilets for the school-going girl students in mission mode under Swachh Bharat Mission. And now the school drop-out rate of Muslim daughters has come down to about 30 percent. He lauded the "Bridge courses" being run for school drop-out students by the Aligarh Muslim University. He further said the government is very focused on the education of Muslim daughters and their empowerment. In the last 6 years, nearly one crore Muslim daughters have been given scholarships by the government. He further stressed that there should be no discrimination on the basis of gender, everyone should get equal rights, everyone should get the benefit of development of the country.

The Prime Minister said the country took forward the efforts to build a modern Muslim society by ending the practice of triple talaq. He said earlier it was said, if a woman is educated then the whole family gets educated. Education brings with it employment and entrepreneurship. Employment and entrepreneurship bring with them economic independence. Empowerment comes from economic independence. An empowered woman contributes equally to every decision, at every level, as much as anyone else.

The Prime Minister said AMU has attracted many from its contemporary curriculum in higher education. He said New National Education Policy has Interdisciplinary subjects similar to one already taught at the university. He said the youth of our country is committed to advancing the country with the call of Nation First. This aspiration of India's youth has been given priority in the new National Education Policy. He said the multiple entry and exit points in the new National Education Policy will make it easier for students to take decisions regarding their education. This will also give the students freedom to take their decision without worrying about the fees of the entire course.

The Prime Minister said the government is also continuously working to increase the number of enrollments and increase seats in higher education. Whether education is online or offline, he said that the Government is working to ensure that it reaches everyone and changes everyone's life. He urged the 100 hostels of AMU to perform an extracurricular task on this occasion of 100 years, in line with the 75th anniversary of India’s freedom, to research about the lesser known freedom fighters.

***