NEW DELHI: Professor Naima Khatoon, the Principal of Women’s College, has been appointed as the new Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Monday. This marks the first time a woman has held the VC position in the university’s 123-year history. With this appointment, AMU becomes the third central university to have its first female VC, following Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

According to a high-ranking government official, Khatoon’s appointment was made by the Ministry of Education, following approval from President Draupadi Murmu, who serves as the Visitor to the university. The Election Commission of India (ECI) also granted permission for the appointment, given the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) currently in effect.

In a letter to the university from the Centre, it was stated that the President of India, in her capacity as the Visitor of AMU, has appointed Prof. Naima Khatoon, Professor/ Principal, Women’s College, as the Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University for a period of five years from the date she assumes office or until she reaches the age of seventy, whichever comes first.

The ECI stated that the commission has no objection to the proposal related to the appointment of the AMU VC from the MCC perspective, provided that it does not result in any political advantage.

In April 2019, Najma Akhtar and in February 2022, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit were appointed as the first female VCs of Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University respectively by the Centre.

Khatoon, who holds a PhD in psychology from AMU, was appointed as a lecturer in the same department in 1988, before being promoted to professor in 2006. She continued in this role before becoming the principal of the Women’s College in 2014.

Founded in 1875, the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920, following the Aligarh Muslim University Act. While there has been no woman VC so far, in 1920 Begum Sultan Jahan was appointed the Chancellor and she remains the only woman to have held that post at AMU.

Khatoon’s husband, Professor Mohammad Gulrez, has been the acting VC of the university since last year after the then VC, Tariq Mansoor, resigned from the post as he was nominated as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.

However, Khatoon’s inclusion among the shortlisted candidates for the top post sparked controversy in October last year, with some university officials alleging a conflict of interest as her husband also chaired the meeting.

On October 30, 2023, the 27-member Executive Council (EC), the university’s highest decision-making body, selected five names out of the 20 eligible candidates — there were a total of 36 applicants for the post of VC.

In a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Mujahid Beg, one of the 36 applicants whose name was not selected by the EC, called for the panel to be set aside and the process to be started afresh.

“Surprisingly the VC not only chaired the meeting of the EC but also voted for his wife. Another blow to free and fair elections…The VC did not declare his impartiality in respect of the candidates, so as to dispel any justifiable doubt about his independence and the impartiality of the proceedings, as his own wife is one of the candidates staking her claim for the post of Vice Chancellor,” Beg had said.

Apart from Khatoon, the other names recommended by the EC were legal scholar and former VC of Nalsar, Hyderabad, Faizan Mustafa; biochemist and VC of Srinagar’s Cluster University Qayyum Husain; noted cardiologist and AMU professor M U Rabbani; and Jamia management professor Furqan Qamar.

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