Vice Chancellor alleges attempt to grab Aligarh Muslim University land

ALIGARH: Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University has alleged that some persons, including a man who claims to be a ruling Samajwadi Party leader, are trying to usurp the varsity's land.

In his December 6 letter to UP Minister for Urban Development and Minority Affairs, Azam Khan, AMU VC Lt Gen. Zameer Uddin Shah, has said that a senior official of the UP Waqf Board visited the premises of the Aligarh Public School along with a person who "claims to be a member of the Samajwadi Party".

The VC expressed concern over the fact that instead of checking the documents pertaining to the land which are all available with the University's property department, the duo allegedly tried to browbeat and "threatened" school officials.

Shah has pointed out that the property, which is in Civil Lines area, is a registered Waqf property under the trusteeship of the Finance Officer of AMU.

The duo claimed that the school was established "without due permission" of the Waqf authorities, he said.

Shah said the person who claims to be a member of the SP "has no locus standi in the matter and it would not be wrong to assume that he has other motives to surreptitiously grab some vacant portions of this valuable land. He is not only eying the said Waqf property but is also continuously interfering in the day to day working of the school".

The Vice Chancellor pointed out that a portion of this land is already "occupied by encroachers" and the University is under litigation with these persons.

Shah said that instead of helping the University in getting rid of these encroachers, the Waqf Board, which is supposed to promote schools for downtrodden children, has trained its guns on the University.