AMU inaugurates special gallery to commemorate 76th Independence Day

The Aligarh Muslim University on Monday commemorated the 76th Independence Day by inaugurating a special gallery in the varsity campus on its role in India's freedom movement. The gallery was inaugurated at the Maulana Azad Library, by AMU's Vice Chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor. Speaking on the occasion, Mansoor said the role of AMU alumni in India's freedom movement is a golden chapter in the history of modern India. Today, it is imperative to highlight the role of such stalwarts of the freedom movement including Raja Mahendra Pratap, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Abdul Majeed Khwaja and Dr Zakir Hussain, he said.

Mansoor said that the gallery was established during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations primarily at the exhortation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who in his address at the AMU centenary celebration had urged the AMU community to highlight the role of their alumni in the freedom movement.

Dr Rahat Abrar, former Director, AMU's Urdu Academy, who is presently a member of the organizing committee of the gallery, said that there were a number of landmark events connected with India's freedom movement, which took place at AMU in the initial stages of the freedom movement. He said that the slogan "Inquilab Zindabad" was coined by none other than Maulana Hasrat Mohani, who was expelled from the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at the instance of the British government. It was this historic slogan which electrified the Indian masses during the non-cooperation movement, Abrar said.