A group of Aligarians singing the university's anthem at a function in honor of Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the new Consul General of India, at a local restaurant in Jeddah, recently. (Courtesy photo)The Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Group (Jeddah Chapter) held a reception dinner in honor of Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the new Consul General of India, at a local restaurant here recently. A large number of AMU alumni were present on the occasion. Kidwai, who recently took charge of the Indian consulate in Jeddah, is also an Aligarian. The function started in the usual AMU tradition with recitation of the Holy Qur'an by Zaynah Ateeq. Farzan Rizvi welcomed the chief guest. Kidwai graduated from AMU in 1993. He successfully took part in the Indian Allied Services (IAS) exams and was selected in 1996. He was director of President of India Secretriate from 2007 to 2011. After the welcome address, a widely read poem of Allama Iqbal “Lab pe aati he dua banke tammanna meri” was presented by Ruqaiyah Ateeq. Guest of honor Shamim Hanafi, noted Urdu scholar and presently chief adviser of the Urdu section of NCERT, lauded the contribution of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan for the upliftment of the Indian Muslims. “He was a true visionary, the most beautiful example of that vision was the formation of Aligarh Muslim University,” he said. The highlight of the evening was a talk show titled “Hai sare jahan ka soz yahan!” conceived and prepared by Khurram Illyas and presented by himself, Ateeq Siddiqui and Imran Ansari in the AMU's frank and humorous style. The skit focused on “the aims and objectives of AMU and the need to redefine them in present time.” Consul General Kidwai said he was happy to note that the community was in touch with AMU, and were also recruiting people from university. He hoped that Aligarians in Jeddah would contribute more for the welfare of the community. He requested the community to help needy Indian children and promised that the services in the consulate would be improved. The Consul General, along with Dr. Shamsi and Mumshaduddin released a CD of 2010 Sir Syed Day in Jeddah. A memento was presented to the new Consul General by Hasan Arabi on behalf of AMUOBG Jeddah. Shakeel Ahmed, a consul at CGI, also attended the function. Asim zeeshan hosted the event. Finally, Aligarh Muslim University's anthem was sung by a group of Aligarians which warmed the hearts of all those present and took them down memory lane.
