The Al Falah University, which has come under the scanner following the busting of a “white-collar terror module” and the blast near Red Fort, started out as an engineering college in 1997 in the Muslim-dominated Dhauj village of Haryana’s Faridabad.
According to its official website, the university, with a 76-acre sprawling campus, was established in 2014 by the Haryana legislative assembly under the Haryana Private Universities Act 2006. Run by the Al Falah Charitable Trust, that was established in 1995, the university started out as an engineering college in 1997.
In 2013, the Al Falah Engineering College received ‘A’ category accreditation from the University Grants Commission’s National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). The Al Falah Medical College is also affiliated with the university. For the MBBS course, it charges Rs 16.37 lakh each in the first four years, and Rs 9 lakh in the last year.
For a two-bed occupancy hostel room, it levies a yearly fee of Rs 3,10,000. The Al Falah School of Medical Sciences & Research Centre began its first MBBS batch in 2019, the year it got the National Medical Commission’s approval. There are 200 seats for the MBBS programme each year, and 50 MD seats. The university offers 888 seats for its engineering programmes.
There are three colleges being run inside the university campus — Al Falah School of Engineering and Technology, Brown Hill College of Engineering and Technology, and Al Falah School of Education and Training. The university houses a small hospital with 650 beds, where doctors treat patients for free. It has state-of-the-art facilities such as MRIs, CT scans, and special blood investigations.
The Chancellor of the university, Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui, is the chairman of the Al Falah Charitable Trust and also the managing director of Al Falah Investments Limited. The current registrar of Al Falah University is Mohammad Parvez, while Bhupinder Kaur Anand is its vice-chancellor.
According to several observers, in its early years, the Al Falah University had presented itself as an alternative to Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia for minority students seeking quality education.
“Al Falah University offers world-class education to students from India and other countries by providing a learning experience designed to develop intellectual abilities and good social, moral, and ethical values,” according to its website.
Investigators are probing how the private university turned a possible haven for highly educated individuals allegedly involved in terror activities.
Dr Muzammil Ganaie and Dr Shaheen Sayeed — both arrested as part of an investigation into the “white-collar terror module” with links to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind — were connected to Al Falah University. Dr Umar Nabi, who was driving the Hyundai i20 that exploded in the Red Fort area on Monday evening, was an assistant professor at the university. Maulvi Ishtiyaq, a preacher from Haryana who allegedly helped store explosives in his rented home near the university, was detained and brought to Srinagar early Wednesday.
He belongs to Mewat and would conduct religious sermons in the Al Falah campus, officials said.
It was from his rented home that police recovered more than 2,500 kg of ammonium nitrate, potassium chlorate and sulphur, they said. The explosives were stored by Dr Ganaie and Dr Nabi.
The university, though, has distanced itself from its arrested faculty members and said it has only a professional association with them. The University said that it had no connection with the two arrested doctors and key suspects in the Delhi blast, apart from the work they did in their official capacity.
The statement, signed by Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) Bhupinder Kaur Anand, outlines the University’s position and clarifies its role in light of the ongoing investigations.
Prof Anand, said, “We are deeply saddened and anguished by the unfortunate developments that took place and condemn the same. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the innocent people affected by these distressing events.”
It noted that the two doctors associated with the university have been detained by the investigating agencies, and said, “We wish to make it clear that the university has no connection with the said persons apart from them being working in their official capacities with the university.”
“Moreover, the university is extending its full cooperation to the concerned investigating authorities to enable them to arrive at a logical, fair, and conclusive determination in the matter pertaining to national security,” the statement added.
The University also assured full cooperation with investigating authorities to ensure a fair and conclusive determination in matters relating to national security.
