Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy

Janab Saiyid Hamid

Saiyid Hamid was born in an average Muslim family of Syed Mehdi Hasan & Sitara Shahjahan Begum in Faizabad on 7th January, 1920. Syed Hamid completed his B.A. and M.A.(English) from Aligarh Muslim University in 1941. He joined U.P. provincial Service in 1942. After having an illustrious career of 6 years in Provincial and 28 years in Indian Administrative services, Saiyid Hamid joined his own Alma Mater, Aligarh Muslim University as its Vice-Chancellor on June 10th, 1980. He played a key role to bring University on normal track which had a lot of distraction due to a prolonged 16 years of struggle for Minority Character. He made special arrangements for Curfew bound Aligarh & Moradabad City students to appear in the exams. He also put in his best to bring back the past glory of his Alma Mater. The monthly magazine, Tahzeebul Akhlaq, started by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was started again during his tenure. It continues to serve the objectives for which its great founder started it.

Even after retirement from his civil services, his passion for social reforms among Indian Muslims did not fade out. At the request of the founder of Hamdard Dawakhana, Hakim Abdul Hameed Saheb he took over as Hony. Secretary of Hamdard Education Society which provided him a vantage point for his country-wide ameliorative efforts for Indian Muslims. This was a beginning of a new phase of Saiyid Hamid’s life. He started Hamdard Study Circle, a premier coaching and guidance cell for Indian Civil Service competitions for Indian Muslims and other minorities. It has managed to get more than 200 candidates placed in the higher Civil Services for which selection is made by U.P.S.C. He also established Hamdard Public School in Delhi.

To promote educational awareness among Indian Muslims, Saiyid Hamid started “All India Taalimi Karwan in 1992. With other Muslim intellectuals he visited different parts of the country, specially in areas of significant Muslim population and made a passionate appeal to Muslims to focus on education for the development of the community and nation building. What started as a series of Talimi Caravans developed gradually into a four-cornered mobile endeavour comprising:

1) literacy and education;
2) health and hygiene,
3) inter communal harmony and
4) social reform.
These Caravans undertaken at considerable inconvenience caused a stir and culminated in a countrywide awakening.

As President of Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) Saiyid Hamid, among other things, strove to promote understanding and cooperation between the representatives of Urdu and other languages, particularly Hindi. Ever since returning to Delhi from Aligarh. Saiyid Hamid has been pursuing with the different Ministries the implementation of the schemes for the benefit of minorities. He headed a group constituted by Govt. to evaluate the implementation of the Fifteen Point Programme and the Programme of Action of the New Education Policy. When Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh constituted a Committee to assess the educational social and economic condition of Muslims, Saiyid Hamid was appointed as its senior member. After the report was published he led a movement for execution of the Committee’s recommendations.

He was also a member of the High Level Committee constituted by the Ministry of HRD to make recommendations in respect of educational development of Muslims. He was also appointed as Chairman of the group of Vice Chancellors to work out the follow up on reservation in educational institutions for backward classes. He took out a Caravane Insaf to press for implementation of the Sachar Committee report. Saiyid Hamid prepared the project of Hamdard University as a deemed to be university and processed the project till University status was granted to it. Saiyid Hamid has continued his interest in Hockey and is Vice President of the A.I. Jawahar Lal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society which conducts five major hockey tournaments every year. He activated Delhi branch of the Aligarh Old Boys Association Delhi to a) promote competitive spirit for participation in competitive examination b) opened a public school, Crescent Public School. Saiyid Hamid functioned as the first executive Vice President of the Maulana Azad Education Foundation and placed its foundation on a sound footing.

Saiyid Hamid has recently been appointed as a member of the Committee set up by Maulana Azad Foundation to prepare a project for establishing three modern Muslim Universities in Bangalore, Ajmer and Kishengunj. For twenty years headed the U.P. Association of Minority managed Institutions Founder Chairman of Muslim Education Trust. He Rejected Government’s offer of appointment to a gubernatorial post.

Saiyid Hmid is founder editor of the fortnightly journal, Nation and the World, which is being published regularly for the last fifteen years.

He is a regular contributor to important Urdu Newspapers on educational and social topics Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard. A complete report of “All India Taalimi Karwaan” has been compiled by AMU PRO Dr. Rahat Abrar and has been published by UP Rabita Committee.

Even at the age of more than 87 years, Saiyid Hamid is still working for the upliftment and betterment of Indian Muslims and other minorities.