Jamia Millia Islamia(Central University)

Jamia Millia Islamia, an institution originally established at Aligarh in United Provinces, India in 1920 became a Central University by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1988. In Urdu language, Jamia means ‘University’, and Millia means ‘Nati a means ‘University’, and Millia means ‘National’. The story of its growth from a small institution in the pre-independence India to a central university located in New Delhi—offering integrated education from nursery to research in specialized areas—is a saga of dedication, conviction and vision of a people who worked against all odds and saw it growing step by step. They “built up the Jamia Millia stone by stone and sacrifice by sacrifice,” said Sarojini Naidu, the nightingale of India. Under the colonial British rule, two dominant trends joined hands and contributed towards in the birth of Jamia. One was the anti-colonial Islamic activism and the other was the pro-independence aspiration of the politically radical section of western educated Indian Muslim intelligentsia. In the political climate of 1920, the two trends gravitated together with Mahatma Gandhi as a catalyst. The anti-colonial activism signified by the Khilafat and the pro-independence aspirations symbolised by the non-cooperation movement of the Indian National Congress helped to harness creative energies and the subsequent making of Jamia Millia Islamia. Rabindranath Tagore called it “one of the most progressive educational institutions of India”. Responding to Gandhiji’s call to boycott all educational institutions supported or run by the colonial regime, a group of nationalist teachers and students quit Aligarh Muslim University, protesting against its pro-British inclinations. The prominent members of this movement were Maulana Mehmud Hasan, Maulana Mohamed Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, and Abdul Majid Khwaja. Born out of political crisis, it seemed for a while, Jamia would not survive the heat of the intense political struggle for the independence of India. It participated in the Bardoli resolution and sent volunteers across the country to motivate people to fight for the freedom of the country. The colonial British government soon imprisoned many of its teachers and students. In 1922, Gandhiji called off the non-cooperation movement. Even as its teachers and students were being released, Mustapha Kemal Ataturk declared the end of the Khilafat in 1924. Suddenly Jamia saw itself in a great crisis. Some thought it had achieved its mission, as others believed that the institution had lost its raison d’etre with the end of the non-cooperation and the Khilafat movements. Even the little financial assistance, that the Khilafat had been giving it, also dried up. As even prominent people started deserting it, Jamia’s total collapse virtually became an imminent possibility. The saying, ‘when going gets tough the tough gets going’ cannot be truer about Jamia. As the crisis loomed large, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari and Abdul Majeed Khwaja—the first trio—supported by Gandhiji shifted Jamia from Aligarh to Karol Bagh, in New Delhi in 1925. Gandhiji boosted the morale of Jamia, saying, “The Jamia has to run. If you are worried about its finances, I will go about with a begging bowl”. Jamia followed Gandhiji’s constructive programme for self-reliance while it took to Charkha and Takli as favoured vocations. Although Gandhi’s contacts helped to secure financial help for Jamia, the risk of helping a Congress-backed institution under the British Raj dissuaded many willing benefactors. Orthodox Muslims also viewed Jamia as a threat to Aligarh Muslim University, the ‘Muslim Oxford’. During those difficult days, it was Hakim Ajmal Khan who met most of Jamia’s expenses from his own pocket. Dr. M.A. Ansari and Abdul Majeed Khwaja toured India and abroad, explaining the importance of Jamia and collecting funds for this noble enterprise. Their collective intervention did avert a collapse that was almost certain.