Indian University complex named after Chomsky

Ministry of Human Resource Development

GRADUAL GROWTH OF JAMIA FROM A SMALL INSTITUTION IN THE PRE-INDEPENDENCE
INDIA TO A CENTRAL UNIVERSITY IS A STORY OF DEDICATION, CONVICTION AND
VISION OF THE PEOPLE : ARJUN SINGH -- 19:33 IST -- 4may07

Shri Arjun Singh, Minister for Human Resource Development today
inaugurated the Noam Chomsky Complex at Jamia Millia Islamia premises. He
said gradual growth of Jamia, from a small institution in the
pre-independence India to a Central University located in New Delhi –
offering integrated education from nursery to research in specialised
areas is a story of dedication, conviction and vision of the people, who
worked against all odds and saw it growing step by step.

Those present on the occasion included, Shri F.T. Khorakiwala, Chancellor;
Prof. Mushirul Hasan, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, and Members
of the University Court, Executive Council, Academic Council and Faculty &
Staff of the University.

Here is the full text of the speech of the Minister:

"I do not wish to talk much about the historical background of Jamia
Millia Islamia. I am reminded, when Jamia was shifted 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". This only reflects the strong
sentiments associated with the quest for growth and development of Jamia
during the pre-independence period.

Our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru had once said, "Jamia
does not fit in our normal rules and regulations for schools, colleges,
universities and the like." He had, therefore, advocated an independent
path for its development. The strong ideological core of its founding
fathers, the steadfast upholoding of the ideals of pluralism and composite
culture of the country, the straddling of the worlds of tradition and
modernity – all these are features that mark Jamia out from other
institutions of learning. All I can say is that Jamia has been and shall
be a different seat of learning.

Today, seeing this sprawling 210 acre campus, it is difficult to envisage
that its beginnings were in humble tents in Aligarh Muslim University.
From its meagre budget in the 1920s, when it perennially teetered on the
brink of bankruptcy, well into the period after independence when
voluntary salary cuts were the norm, the funding Jamia receives today is
testimony to the tenacity and resoluteness of the institution and its
founders.

Under the leadership of its present Vice Chancellor, the University is
witnessing a virtual unleashing of its creative potential. Over seventeen
new research and teaching centres, both in Social Sciences, have been
established. Each of these newly established centres are focussed on
themes that have urgent contemporary relevance. We do hope that the
research emerging from here will not only be cutting edge, capable of
holding its own in the any academic fora, in India or internationally, but
also that it will make important interventions in shaping public policy.

It gives me great pleasure, therefore, today to inaugurate this building
complex, which will house many of the new centres. It is indeed
appropriate that this complex has been named after the leading linguist,
writer and activist, Noam Chomsky, whose commitment to critical enquiry,
we wish our centres of learning and research to imbibe and propagate.

Let me mention that the Ministry of Human Resource Development made a
Special Grant of Rs. 44.28 crore towards the constructions of the building
complex in 2004. The speed at which the construction has concluded, and
the Chomsky Complex ready for use, is a source of immense satisfaction to
all of us.

In the end, I may say that even though Jamia stands at a new threshold
today, poised for greater things, the lineage of its past, a wholly
illustrious and glorious past, must never be lost sight of. Let me also
thank Shri Khorakiwalaji and Prof. Mushir-ul-Hasan Ji for giving me this
opportunity."