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The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recommended the government to dispose of word ‘Muslim’ from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and ‘Hindu’ from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to show secular character. The proposal is contained in an audit of AMU, made by a committee formed by the UGC at the behest of Human Resource and Development (HRD) Ministry.
The committee was formed to check complaints of irregularities against 10 central universities. It recommended that the AMU should either be called just ‘Aligarh University’ or be called after its founder, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, reported Indian Express.
The same reason was cited in its recommendation to alter the name of BHU. As per the report, the panel members contended that being a centrally-funded university, it is a secular institution and henceforth, the word ‘Muslim’ should be removed.
The committee termed AMU as ‘feudal’ in nature and demanded measures to uplift poor Muslims. However, their report did not comment on the institutions’ minority status as the issue is sub-judice. They questioned the selection process of AMU’s vice-chancellor, recommending that it should be tweaked to line up it with the selection procedure followed by other central universities.