Aligarh Muslim University resumes literary festival after several rounds of deliberations

NEW DELHI: After several rounds of deliberations with the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) administration, the AMU literary festival 2022 has finally resumed. The event was cancelled by the university administration earlier today, May 21, without citing any reason. However, Safey Kidwai, AMU spokesperson, told Careers360 that the second-day event of the AMU literary festival was cancelled to maintain the COVID-19 protocol.

AMU literary festival 2022 is scheduled to be held for three days between May 20 and 23. A session by former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan was scheduled to be held today. Rajan is supposed to speak on why liberal democracy is necessary for India's development.

An AMU Debating and Library Club member, on the condition of anonymity, told Careers360 that the AMU administration is pressuring them to cancel the event which is supposed to host guests such as Raghuram Rajan, Rohit Khanna and Hartosh Singh Bal. He suspects that the administration is under pressure from VC and government authorities.

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The AMU literary festival which features lectures, panel discussions, and discourses on books, is being attended by not just the students, but also the general public, intellectuals, literary connoisseurs and faculty members. Initially, many claimed on social media that the programme is being cancelled as the authorities were worried about the ‘girls outing’. Kidwai clarified that this is not the case and further said that girls are also attending classes every day and there is no restriction on the free movement of girls on the campus.

Areeb Uddin, an Allahabad High Court advocate said, “So the AMU litfest has been abruptly cancelled by the University administration? Without giving any reasons? Under who's pressure? One of the organizers told me that the guest is waiting and they can't even take a call. This is insane.”