Modi aide appointed MANUU chancellor

A well-known industrialist and close aide of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been appointed chancellor of the Hyderabad-based Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU).
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, in his capacity as visitor of the university, appointed Zafar Sareshwala for a term of 3 years, according to a press release issued by Abid Abdul Wasay, the university’s public relations officer.
Speaking to Arab News from New Delhi, Sareshwala expressed surprise at the news of his appointment. “I am hearing it from you. I have no idea. I have not heard it from anybody in the government,” he said.
The university’s public relations officer told Arab News that a communication was sent to the vice chancellor’s office on Friday by the Ministry of Human Resources Development.
Sareshwala is the fourth chancellor of the university. He succeeds Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, a former member of India’s Planning Commission. Former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral was the first chancellor.
Sareshwala was among the most vociferous critics of Modi having suffered business losses in the 2002 riots in Gujarat. He had even threatened to take Modi to the international criminal court but in subsequent years had a change of heart and became the biggest supporter of the Indian leader from the Muslim community.
He has been vocal about his new allegiance and said that other forces were responsible for the carnage in 2002. The new posting will likely be seen as Modi’s reward for Sareshwala’s support.
The MANUU is a central university established in 1998 by an act of Parliament to promote and develop the Urdu language and impart vocational and technical education in Urdu through conventional and distance modes.
Urdu-speaking expatriates in Saudi Arabia have considerable interest in the university and many non-resident Indians have in the past obtained degrees from the institution through distance learning.
The headquarters of the university is spread over 200 acres in Gachibowli, Hyderabad. The students and staff are drawn from different regions across India.