The New Delhi-based Jamia Millia Islamia is the only Indian university that played host to two Saudi kings. King Saud visited the university in Delhi in 1956 and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in January 2006.

A substantial section of Indian professionals working in the Kingdom is a product of Jamia Millia Islamia.

“All of the new office-bearers for the association’s Riyadh chapter have been elected unopposed,” Jamia Millia Islamia alumnus and chief election commissioner Shafaatullah Khan told Arab News on Sunday.

Khursheed Anwar is the new president; Syed Aftab Ali Nizami, vice president; Mohammad Javed Khan, general secretary; Mohammad Farooq, joint secretary; and Abdur Rahman, treasurer.

The new executive body includes Suhail Iqbal, Wasiullah Nadwi, Mohammad Imdad Alam Nadwi, Nafees Ahmad, Adeel Ahmad, Azmatullah Khan, Zuhair Islam and Zafar Alam.

“The election commission, which included Mohammad Shahabuddin, Mohammad Ghayasuddin and Mohammad Najeeb Qasmi, received only one nomination for each post,” said Shafaatullah Khan.

“In true democratic tradition, elections are held every two years to elect new office-bearers from among the large JMI alumni community in Riyadh,” he said.

The association is a representative body of the Jamia Millia Islamia alumni based in Riyadh. It has played a positive role in promoting social and philanthropic activities among the large Indian expatriate community. The association’s annual event attracts thousands and is an important event on the social calendar of Indian expatriates.

Jamia Millia Islamia was founded in 1920 as a response to Aligarh Muslim University, which a number of Muslim scholars — including Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar, the doyen of Khilafat Movement, and Shaikh-ul-Hind Maulana Mahmudul Hasan, who is also known as the Prisoner of Malta and for his beautiful translation of the Holy Qur’an in Urdu — thought to be less Islamic than it should have been at that time.

The university holds a special place in the heart of Indian Muslims for having played a key role during the country’s freedom struggle. It was established with the specific purpose of inculcating in its students a sense of belonging to the nation and to throw off the yoke of British imperialism.