Jamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia is an Indian Central University located in Delhi. It was originally established at Aligarh in United Provinces, India in 1920. It became a Central University by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1988.
The university was established by nationalist Muslims and is secular in character. Its campus is located in South Delhi. There are no colleges affiliated to the university anywhere else. The university provides a number of courses at school, undergraduate and postgraduate level.
| Established: | 1920 |
| Type: | Central University |
| Chancellor: | Fakhruddin T. Khorakiwala |
| Vice-Chancellor: | Najeeb Jung |
| Faculty: | 614 |
| Staff: | 997 |
| Students: | 10400 |
| Location: | New Delhi, India |
| Affiliations: | UGC (India) |
| Website: | http://www.jmi.nic.in |
Central University
By a Special Act of the Parliament, Jamia Millia Islamia was made a central university of India in December 1988. In the list of the Faculties, i.e. Education, Humanities & Languages, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences. Engineering & Technology, one more Faculty - Faculty of Law, was added in 1989. Many new courses and programmes at UG and PG levels have since been added.
Besides its six faculties, the Jamia has a number of centres of learning and research, like Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC), Academy of Third World Studies (ATWS) etc. The Jamia is also marching ahead in the field of Information Technology (IT). It offers various undergraduate and postgraduate IT courses. Apart from this, the Jamia has a campus wide network which connects a large number of its departments and offices.
Crisis
Born out of political crisis, it seemed for a while, Jamia would not survive the heat of the intense political struggle for the independence of India. It participated in the Bardoli resolution and sent volunteers across the country to motivate people to fight for the freedom of the country. The colonial British government soon imprisoned many of its teachers and students. In 1922, Gandhiji called off the non-cooperation movement. Even as its teachers and students were being released, Mustapha Kemal Ataturk declared the end of the Khilafat in 1924.
Suddenly Jamia saw itself in a great crisis. Some thought it had achieved its mission, as others believed that the institution had lost its raison d’etre with the end of the non-cooperation and the Khilafat movements. Even the little financial assistance, that the Khilafat had been giving it, also dried up. As even prominent people started deserting it, Jamia’s total collapse virtually became an imminent possibility.
Jamia Moves to Delhi
The saying, ‘when going gets tough the tough gets going’ cannot be truer about Jamia. As the crisis loomed large, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari and Abdul Majeed Khwaja—the first trio—supported by Gandhiji shifted Jamia from Aligarh to Karol Bagh, in New Delhi in 1925. Gandhiji boosted the morale of Jamia, saying, “The Jamia has to run. If you are worried about its finances, I will go about with a begging bowl”. Jamia followed Gandhiji’s constructive programme for self-reliance while it took to Charkha and Takli as favoured vocations.
Although Gandhi’s contacts helped to secure financial help for Jamia, the risk of helping a Congress-backed institution under the British Raj dissuaded many willing benefactors. Orthodox Muslims also viewed Jamia as a threat to Aligarh Muslim University, the ‘Muslim Oxford’. During those difficult days, it was Hakim Ajmal Khan who met most of Jamia’s expenses from his own pocket. Dr. M.A. Ansari and Abdul Majeed Khwaja toured India and abroad, explaining the importance of Jamia and collecting funds for this noble enterprise. Their collective intervention did avert a collapse that was almost certain.
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