What Are (Muslim) Universities for?

About the Speaker

Laurence Gautier was trained at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon and at the University of Cambridge. She completed her PhD on the ‘role of Muslim universities in the redefinition of Indian Muslim identities India after partition (1947-1990s)’ in 2017. She is now Assistant Professor at the School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University.

Abstract

JNU, Hyderabad, Ramjas, Jamia … Indian universities have been at the heart of a series of bitter controversies in the last few years, be it on nationalism, anti-nationalism, Dalits’ status or Muslim minority rights. These vehement disputes have highlighted the importance of universities, both as political symbols and as places of debate, in shaping discussions on the nation, citizenship and group rights.

Stepping back in time, but bearing these issues in mind, this presentation will explore the role of two universities – Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia, in mediating discourses on national integration and Muslim citizenship. It will examine the efforts of university members and central authorities to transform these institutions into ‘laboratories’ for an inclusive, composite nation, particularly around the time of partition. In so doing, it will also reflect upon the impact of these universities in the development of the ‘Nehruvian’ model of ‘secular nationalism’ in post-independence India.

Report

In the talk, “What Are (Muslim) Universities for? Imagining the Nation, Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia around the Time of Partition”, Professor Laurence Garnier discussed the politics and imagination around to major Muslim Universities in India: Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. In my response, I am going to discuss the difference in the nature of the university and engage with the question, “Why Aligarh and not Jamia?”, in relation to the money, efforts and imagination put in by the Nehruvian Government.

Professor Garnier introduced us to both these universities, outlining the different positions they take in the discourse about Indian Muslims. Jamia Millia Islamia was established in 1920, during the Khilafat and the non-cooperation movement. It was an attempt to break free the Muslim intellectuals in Aligarh Muslim University, who continued to support the colonial establishment. Jamia was established on the outskirts of Delhi and had very strong Gandhian ties. Throughout the next two decades, Jamia grew to establish an inclusive community strongly based on Gandhian principles. This was in sharp contrast to Aligarh Muslim University which was, in some sense was the nerve- centre of the Pakistan movement. This continued throughout the 1930s and 1940s. During Independence, whereas Jamia made continuous efforts to ensured Indian Muslims of their safety, Aligarh remained a strong centre of Pakistan sympathises.

At this juncture, the attitude of the Indian Government can be deemed paradoxical. Instead of putting efforts in Jamia with funding and patronage, to make it a centre of the Muslim intellectual discourse.Instead, it’s patronage and funds went to AMU, to transform it, into a more inclusive, secular and Indian organisation. Appointment of Zakir Hussain the Vice-Chancellor, (one of the founders and architect of Jamia) was the biggest step in that direction.

There can be many answers to this paradox. Therefore it poses an interesting question worth exploring.

By Pratiti, Undergraduate Class of 2020