Samajwadi Party leader and former MP Tazeen Fatma on Friday defended Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, calling him a “great freedom fighter” and a prominent national leader.
Her remarks came after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath allegedly said that Mohammad Ali Jauhar University was named after a person responsible for the Partition of the country.
Fatma Defends Jauhar
Speaking at the university’s foundation day function, Fatma, the wife of jailed SP leader Azam Khan, said people who had misconceptions about Jauhar should read historical accounts about his life and role in India’s freedom movement.
“The university was established in the name of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar. Those who have any misunderstanding about this name, I want to ask them to read old history. Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar was a very great freedom fighter and a very big leader,” she said.
Fatma has served as the secretary of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University and its founding Trust.
Recalling Jauhar’s position on India’s freedom struggle, she said he had demanded complete independence and did not want to be buried in a country that remained under foreign rule.
“He had said at a conference that we want freedom, complete and total freedom, and I do not want to be buried in a slave country,” Fatma said.
Fatma Raises University Demolition Issue
Fatma also referred to recent demolition orders concerning 38 buildings at the university.
She praised students who, according to her, staged a sit in at the university gate despite pressure from the police and administration.
“The students had said that even if the university buildings were demolished, they would continue studying here, sitting under the trees and on the ground,” she said.
Fatma said the university had faced several difficulties since its establishment and congratulated its students and faculty for continuing to face the challenges.
Thanks Supporters of Student Protest
Fatma also thanked people from different parts of the country who she said had supported the students’ protest against the proposed demolition of the university buildings.
“People of our city stood with the children who were sitting on the dharna. I also want to say that without any discrimination on the basis of caste or religion, the entire country opposed the demolition of this university,” she said.
She expressed gratitude to those who travelled to support the students and said their participation had helped build public opinion against the proposed demolition.
