Hyderabad, Sept. 20 -- The educational backwardness of Indian Muslims has been a matter of concern for more than a century and a half.

It took the vision, grit and determination of Syed Ahmad Khan to take some concrete steps towards alleviating the problem. The foundation of MAO College in 1875 (first as Madrasatul Uloom) paved the way for modern scientific education among the Muslims of India. Syed Ahmad's ambition was not just a college that would become a University, but an educational movement whose impact would be deep and wide across the length and width of the Indian landscape. With this objective in mind, he founded the All India Mohammedan Educational Conference in 1886 as a vehicle to transport the Aligarh Movement across India...