Jamia Millia Islamia waht is it ? Interesting things

Jamia Millia Islamia is a central university located in New Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) during the British Raj in 1920, it moved to its current location in Okhla in 1935. It was given the deemed status by University Grants Commission in 1962. On 26 December 1988, it became a central university. Najma Heptulla was appointed as the 11th Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia on 26 May 2017 and Najma Akhtar was appointed as the 15th Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in April 2019. In 2020, Jamia Millia Islamia was ranked 1st among all central universities in the country in rankings released by the Ministry of Education of India.

History of JMI

Jamia Millia Islamia was established in Aligarh on 29 October 1920 by Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Abdul Majeed Khwaja, and Zakir Hussain under the presidentship of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi.

It was established mainly in response to the demand of some students of the Aligarh Muslim University for a new National Muslim University which would be free from government influence as they felt that the administration of Aligarh Muslim University was of pro-British stance.

It was conceived as a national institution that would offer progressive education and an emphasis on Indian nationalism to students from all communities, particularly Muslims. Zakir Hussain described "the movement of Jamia Millia Islamia as a struggle for education and cultural renaissance that aims to prepare a blueprint for Indian Muslims which may focus on Islam but simultaneously evolve a national culture for common Indian.

It will lay the foundation of the thinking that true religious education will promote patriotism and national integration among Indian Muslims, who will be proud to take part in the future progress of India, which will play its part in the comity of nations for peace and development.

The objective of the establishment of Jamia Millia Islamia will be to lay down the common curriculum for Indian Muslims taking into account the future challenges and will prepare the children to be masters of future"

The emergence of Jamia was supported by Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore who felt that Jamia Millia Islamia could shape the lives of hundreds and thousands of students on the basis of a shared culture and worldview. In 1925, Jamia Millia Islamia moved from Aligarh to Karol Bagh, New Delhi.

On 1 March 1935, the foundation stone for a school building was laid at Okhla, then a nondescript village in the southern outskirts of Delhi. In 1936, all institutions of Jamia Millia Islamia except Jamia Press, the Maktaba, and the library moved to the new campus.

The University Grants Commission gave Jamia Millia Islamia the deemed status in 1962.

Jamia Millia Islamia became a central university by an act of the Indian Parliament on 26 December 1988. In 2006, the King of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia paid a visit to the university and donated US$2.90 million for the construction of a library, now known as Dr Zakir Husain Library (Central Library).

In 2019, the university emerged as a centre of the Citizenship Amendment Act protests after the act was passed by the Parliament.

On 13 December 2019, Delhi Police tried to forcefully dismiss the protest of students and threw tear gas inside the campus on students to control their agitation. On 15 December 2019, police entered the campus on the pretext of trying to catch the mob that destroyed public peace outside the university campus.

Many students sustained injuries because of the police brutality and it sparked protests in several other universities.

Founders of Jamia Millia Islamia

• Mahmud Hasan Deobandi: He laid the foundation stone of Jamia Millia Islamia and was the most aged among all the founders of Jamia. He was president of the opening ceremony of Jamia Millia Islamia at Aligarh, which took place on 29 October 1920. His presidential speech was read by his student Shabbir Ahmad Usmani.
• Abul Kalam Azad, the nationalist leader of the Indian National Congress, was one of its main initial patrons.
• Mohammad Ali Jouhar became Jamia's first Vice Chancellor.
• Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of Independence Movement and the Father of the Nation, Gandhi was one of the key people in the foundation of Jamia.
• Zakir Hussain took over the university in its turbulent times in 1927 and guided it through the difficulties. After his death, he was buried on the campus of the University where his mausoleum is open to the public.
• Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari later became the vice chancellor. The main auditorium and Health Centre of the university are both named after him.
• Abdul Majeed Khwaja
• Abid Hussain (not to be confused with Abid Hussain)
• Hakim Ajmal Khan: On 22 November 1920, Hakim Ajmal Khan was elected the first chancellor of Jamia.
• Mohammad Mujeeb, under whose leadership Jamia Millia Islamia became a Deemed University on 9 June 1962.

The foundation committee of the Jamia Millia Islamia also included Kifayatullah Dehlawi, Hussain Ahmad Madani, Syed Sulaiman Nadwi, Abdul Haq, Abdul Bari Firangi Mahali, Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Sanaullah Amritsari, Muhammad Iqbal, Syed Mahmud and Saifuddin Kitchlew in it.

The Campus of Jamia Millia Islamia

The campus is distributed over a large area. Many of its buildings are being modernised. Maulana Mahmud Hasan gate The university's scenic cricket ground, Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi Sports Complex, has hosted many important Tournaments and Indian women cricket matches.

This ground also hosted the University Cricket Championship in 2013 Besides its seven faculties, the Jamia has centres of learning and research, including the Anwar Jamal Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC), Faculty of Engineering & Technology, Faculty of Fine Arts, Centre for Theoretical Physics, and the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Academy of Third World Studies (ATWS).

The Jamia offers undergraduate and postgraduate information and technology courses. Jamia Millia Islamia joined the green campaign and installed 2,250-kilowatt solar panels on the campus.

Ranking of JMI University

Jamia Millia Islamia has been ranked 538 out of 1100 universities worldwide by Round University Ranking. Jamia Millia Islamia has been ranked at 3rd position among the top 25 Central Universities and at 17th rank among top 100 universities by Outlook-I Care India University Rankings 2019.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked it 601-800 globally in 2020 ranking 192 in Asia in 2020 and 195 in Times Higher Education Emerging Economies University Rankings 2021.

It has ranked on 192 positions among the top 200 Universities in Asia category by the QS Asia Ranking 2020, ranked125 among the universities in BRICS countries by the QS BRICS Ranking 2019 and ranked on 751-800 position in QS World University Rankings in the 2022 list.

It was ranked 16th in India overall by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2020, 10th among universities, 9th in-law ranking, 10th in architecture ranking, 28th in the engineering ranking and 34th in the management ranking.

The Faculty of Law was ranked 6th in India by Outlook India's "India's Top 30 Law Colleges In 2019" and 14th in India by The Week's "Top Law Colleges 2019".