AMU to bury 'time capsule' of its 100-year-old history on Republic Day

Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) will bury a time capsule containing the institution's past and milestones at the Victoria Gate on campus as part of the university's centenary celebrations on 26th January.

Dr. Rahat Abrar, chairperson of the content committee and spokesperson for AMU, said that the five-foot-long capsule weighing 1.5 tons would be placed 30 feet below the ground and the event would be broadcast online. The capsule will contain documents highlighting the history of the university.

"We will bury a time capsule containing the history and achievements of Aligarh Muslim University at 11 a.m. on 26th January. The Vice-Chancellor will participate in the event through video conferencing," Dr. Rahat Abrar said.

Dr. Abrar said that the documents will be kept safe by making them acid-free by using additives. The records will serve as a link between the past and the future and people from the will come to know about the progress made by the University in the last 100 years, according to Dr. Abrar.

Earlier, on 22 December, PM of India, Narendra Modi lauded AMU as mini-India and had said that the university crafted and polished millions of lives by giving them modern and scientific thinking and inspiring them to do something for society. Modi had also released a special commemorative postal stamp to mark the centenary of the University.

The university was established as Muslim Anglo-Oriental College in 1877, later upgraded to a university by an Act of Parliament in 1920; a time capsule containing the history leading to the establishment of this institute was buried in 1877.