April 2019

The Annual Fund-raiser and Iftar Dinner: This annual event will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2019, at the Rockville Senior Center. The Aligarh Alumni Association, Washington DC (AAA-DC) has appealed to all members of the community to support its efforts aimed at raising scholarship funds for needy students at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and to finance coaching centers in several Indian cities. Details can be found in our scholarship annual report by clicking here.

Annual General Body Meeting and Elections: The AAA-DC held its annual meeting and elections on Sunday, March 31, 2019, at the Montgomery County Executive Build. In a PowerPoint presentation, Dr. Rafat Husain, the president, highlighted the events organized by the Association during a very productive year, when a dozen programs with a variety of themes and objectives were staged. These ranged from a book-release ceremony to a lavish picnic, and the Association’s famed international Mushaira.

Other events included receptions for visiting luminaries, the former AMU vice chancellor, Lt. Gen. Zameeruddin Shah, and the current vice chancellor of NALSAR University, Hyderabad (India), Professor Faizan Mustafa. Additionally, we were honored to have Mr. Raza Rumi, a famed journalist and a political commentator, affiliated with Cornell University, as keynote speaker at the Annual Sir Syed Day dinner and lecture.

Annual Budget: Harris Usmani presented the budget for the year with meticulous details of the income and expenses. Unfortunately, several of the functions, including the Mushaira, lost money this year.

AMU Scholarship Program: The chairman of the scholarship committee, Dr. Aftab Ansari, illustrated through a PowerPoint presentation the continuing success of this program. It now comprises three segments: (a) Award of Scholarship, (b) Support of Coaching Centers and Feeder Schools, and (c) Assistance in securing Indian scholarships. The program is in excellent financial health, the assets nearing a million, while it has awarded over 3,000 scholarships since 1976, and 287 scholarships this year alone. The coaching program (directed by Dr. Razi Raziuddin) helped 800 students during the past year.  For details click here.

Talk by Ms. Rana Safvi and Mr. Kashif-ul-Huda: Following the conclusion of the annual meeting, the session was devoted to talks by Mr. Kashif-ul-Huda and Ms. Rana Safvi. Mr. Kashif-ul-Huda is a community activist who had travelled from Boston to give his talk. He urged the audience to fight the dark forces advocating Islamophobia, ethnic and religious hatred. In her scholarly talk, Rana Safvi spotlighted the work of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan on the archeological sites of Delhi, many of which are now extinct. She has translated Sir Syed’s landmark book, Asar us Sanadid (The Remnants of Ancient Heroes) into Urdu, available from Amazon. The erudite talk elicited a number of questions from the audience.

Ms. Nuzaira Azam, a well-known journalist and writer, has been elected as vice president of the Pakistan-American Press Association. Both Nuzaira and her husband, Dr. Zafer Iqbal, are active members of the AAA-DC. Congratulations to Nuzaira on her election.

Bereavements

Mr. Ishteyaq Khan: Born and brought up in Chandauli district, UP, Mr Ishteyaq Khan was educated at AMU, where he completed his BSc and MBA. He distinguished himself as a sprinter, representing the University at different academic institutions’ sporting events, and served as captain of various athletic clubs at AMU. Later, he moved to Saudi Arabia and worked there until very recently, when he returned to his hometown. Last month, Mr. Ishteyaq Khan died suddenly of cardiac arrest. He was the brother of Mrs. Fathun Khan, and brother-in-law of Dr Fazal Khan, both senior members of AAA-DC (Contributed by Mr. Afzal Usmani).

Mrs. Fatima Farshori, wife of Masood Farshori, passed away on March 11, 2019, at the age of 59 years, following prolong health complications. A graduate of AMU (BSc, BEd) and a holding a master’s in special education from the SUNY Buffalo State University, she ran a successful business in Maryland. Her special interests were educating young children and gardening. A strong supporter of AAA, she served as the secretary of AAA-DC in the early nineties. She also supported the AAA-DC scholarship program and contributed to the cause generously over the years (Courtesy; Mr. Masood Farshori)

Syed Reza Husain passed away at Frankfurt, Germany, on March 17, 2019. He was an AMU alumnus and grandson of Sir Wazir Hasan, a founding member of the Aligarh Movement. He was an engineering student at AMU in 1957, and later migrated to Germany (Contributed by Dr. Hashma Hasan).