Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MAANU) will soon get land for its Lucknow campus. The decision was taken after Zafar Sareshwala, Chancellor of the University, met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Sareshwala reportedly met the UP CM to request him to provide space for the campus.
According to a News18 report, the CM is said to have responded positively. The premiere Central University has 11 campuses across the country, but none in UP. In his letter to the CM, Sareshwala wrote that the Lucknow campus “will go a long way in empowering and bringing the Muslim youth to the mainstream”.
Notably, Sareshwala is an ardent supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2015, he was appointed as the Chancellor of MANUU, an institution established in 1998 to promote Urdu. According to the report, there are 48,000 madarsas in UP that receive financial assistance from government, but despite various efforts the ground reality hasn’t changed much.
As Adityanath attempts for an image makeover, this move may help him in doing that. Ever since Yogi Adityanath became the CM of UP, some of his ‘landmark’ steps are being lauded by everyone. Once a saffron poster boy, Adityanath is becoming the ‘leader of the masses’ who believes in party’s aim of ‘Sabka sath, Sabka vikas’.
The report suggests that Adityanath has also agreed to be the keynote speaker at Taalim-O-Tarbiyat, an event which Sareshwala has organized across the country to spread awareness on the need for education among the minorities. The event is likely to be held in the third week of May.
