HYDERABAD: Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has for the first time fielded a Muslim woman candidate for the University of Hyderabad (UoH) student union elections on November 9. Shaik Aayesha will lock horns with SFI-ASA-TSF alliance’s Mohammed Ateeq Ahmed to become president, making it also the first such contest between two minority candidates for the union’s top post at the central university.
Shaik Aayesha, from Visakhapatnam, is pursuing PhD in Chemistry. Ahmed is also a PhD student and resident of Hyderabad.
The outgoing president, Prajwal Gaikwad, was from an Ambedkar Student Association (ASA)-led alliance with SFI and TSF as the other partners. SFI is CPM student wing Students’ Federation of India and TSF is Tribal Students Federation.
Speaking to TOI on Monday, the 24-year-old Aayesha, who has been with ABVP since 2019, said the organisation had always been “pro-minority”.
Aayesha vehemently countered claims of her rivals that ABVP chose her only to drive home the message of not being anti-minority.
“If anything, ABVP is pro-minority and pro-India. They support all minorities who support the nation and think about it first. I have been part of the ABVP since I was doing my MSc at the Central Tribal University in AP and I was the state executive member then, which goes to show they support Muslim women in leadership roles,” Aayesha maintained.
She said her key focus, if elected, would be to ensure that the National Education Policy 2020 is implemented in letter and spirit at UoH. She also intends to facilitate the setting up of a ‘Samajika Samarasya’ (social harmony) academic centre on the campus.
“Our focus will be on minority, SC/ST, OBC students’ welfare and ensure that they have access to all academic opportunities through this centre,” said Aayesha.
Her opponent Ateeq, from the SFI-led coalition, refused to buy into it. He insisted that Aayesha’s selection was nothing but ‘representation politics’. “This is what ABVP always does,” Ateeq argued.
Shaik Aayesha, from Visakhapatnam, is pursuing PhD in Chemistry. Ahmed is also a PhD student and resident of Hyderabad.
The outgoing president, Prajwal Gaikwad, was from an Ambedkar Student Association (ASA)-led alliance with SFI and TSF as the other partners. SFI is CPM student wing Students’ Federation of India and TSF is Tribal Students Federation.
Speaking to TOI on Monday, the 24-year-old Aayesha, who has been with ABVP since 2019, said the organisation had always been “pro-minority”.
Aayesha vehemently countered claims of her rivals that ABVP chose her only to drive home the message of not being anti-minority.
“If anything, ABVP is pro-minority and pro-India. They support all minorities who support the nation and think about it first. I have been part of the ABVP since I was doing my MSc at the Central Tribal University in AP and I was the state executive member then, which goes to show they support Muslim women in leadership roles,” Aayesha maintained.
She said her key focus, if elected, would be to ensure that the National Education Policy 2020 is implemented in letter and spirit at UoH. She also intends to facilitate the setting up of a ‘Samajika Samarasya’ (social harmony) academic centre on the campus.
“Our focus will be on minority, SC/ST, OBC students’ welfare and ensure that they have access to all academic opportunities through this centre,” said Aayesha.
Her opponent Ateeq, from the SFI-led coalition, refused to buy into it. He insisted that Aayesha’s selection was nothing but ‘representation politics’. “This is what ABVP always does,” Ateeq argued.