Amid BHU row, AMU teachers recall their institute's Sanskrit connect

Amid a row at Banaras Hindu University over the appointment of a Muslim professor at its Sanskrit department, teachers at Aligarh Muslim University recalled their institute's contribution to the subject.

An AMU scholar was the first Muslim to earn a PhD in Sanskrit. Two of the nine faculty members at the Sanskrit department now are Muslims, they reminded.

At BHU, a group of students has been protesting against the appointment of Feroze Khan, saying a Muslim cannot teach Sanskrit. The BHU has backed the professor.

AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar told PTI that when Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College turned into a university in 1920, its Sanskrit department was among the most prestigious at AMU.

The second vice-chancellor of AMU, Sahibzada Aftab Ahmad Khan, in his inaugural address at the varsity in 1924 had highlighted the importance of Sanskrit.

"Sanskrit literature is a record of Hindu civilisation and culture and it is our aim to produce Muslim scholars who would enrich our culture by a contribution from this source, he is quoted as saying.

It is proposed to award special scholarships to Muslim students for the study of this subject," he had said.

Pandit Ram Swarup Shastri, a noted Sanskrit scholar, was among the first members of the faculty to be appointed at the newly established university, Abrar said.

It was this modern outlook which helped AMU to become one of the top universities in the country immediately after it was established, he added.

Abrar said there have been several Muslim professors at AMU's Sanskrit department in recent years, including Salma Mahfooz, Khalid Bin Yusuf and Mohammad Sharif.

Mahfooz became the first Muslim woman in the world in 1970 to earn a PhD in Sanskrit, he said. At present, at present the department has nine faculty members of which two are Muslims