JEDDAH: The two-day World Alumni Summit being organized by India's premier Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) opens tomorrow in Aligarh. The summit has attracted participants from all over the world including Saudi Arabia. According to the summit website (http://www.amualumni.co), as of Oct. 14 a total of 433 old boys of AMU have registered for the first of its kind initiative. Of them 24 are from the Kingdom while the rest are from other Gulf countries as well as from India, Pakistan, USA, UK, Canada, Mauritius, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Nepal, Australia and Africa.
"The idea behind this historic meet is to provide a platform for a memorable reunion with thousands of our alumni spread all over the globe and to establish a permanent AMU Alumni Foundation as a perpetual facility for the old boys to maintain links with their alma mater. It would enable them to participate in its continued growth and glory," said P.K. Abdul Azis, the vice chancellor of the university, in a statement.
Hamid Ansari, vice president of India and former vice chancellor and an old boy of the university, will inaugurate the summit.
AMU is a premier institution founded by great visionary Sir Syed Ahmad Khan during the height of British colonial rule over India. Today, the university is widely regarded as an icon of modern education and learning and ranks among the top ten Indian universities in relation to alumni working around the world.
The AMU alumni are well known for a strong sentimental attachment with their alma mater. It is for this reason that AMU old boys associations are found in all the major cities of the world.
"I have my reservations on the outcome of the summit but the fact that my university has taken an initiative which was long over due is a welcome development. I am traveling to Aligarh just to be part of a historic moment," said Abdul Ghafoor Danish, a participant from Jeddah.
Meanwhile, AMU has announced that Mohammad Zakir Ali Khan, an eminent literary figure and educationist of Pakistan, will be conferred with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan International Award for literature. The award is first of its kind ever instituted by any university named after its founder, said Rahat Abrar, PRO of the university, in a statement.
