Professor Mohd Shakeel Ahmad Samdani, who passed away hours ago, was not from Okhla or Jamia Millia Islamia, still he was in regular touch with the portal through the virtual world after being introduced by an acquaintance in Okhla over phone a few years ago.
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He always used to WhatsApp releases of his events at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) with a single line: “News for publication.”
On Saturday morning when we came to know about his death through virtual world with a message landing on the mobile phone, it was unbelievable. The OT rang on his number with bated breath in the hope that Professor Samdani, Dean Law Faculty AMU, will pick up the phone and the news is fake. Alas, the phone was picked up by a person who said: “Papa is no more.”
Papa died after recovering from illness, he said with fainted voice and then the line was dropped.
Professor Samdani, who was Professor in the Department of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, for the last 12 years, always appreciated the coverage of the OT. Whenever the OT pointed out that there is no scope for adjusting news from outside Okhla as it was a hyper-local portal, Professor Samdani used to politely say: “Please try to adjust them.”
And the OT always tried its level best to oblige him but there were times when his news couldn’t be covered. For the last several weeks, he was not in touch with the OT until the death of his news surfaced on the virtual world.
A Jamia Millia Islamia Professor and AMU alumnus, who knew him for years. told the OT over phone, that Professor Samdani was very active and ambitious person who wanted to do something big for everybody. His death is a huge loss to the AMU fraternity, he said.
He was founder of Sir Syed Awareness Forum which worked for the uplift of the marginalised, said his close associate.
Prof Samdani has left behind two children, one girl and a son, and a wife.
AMU PRO Omar Peerzada told the OT over phone: “My senior friend, Professor Shakeel Ahmad Samdani has left for the heavenly abode. He was Dean Faculty of Law. A very large-hearted person and a man of excellent disposition, having a laughing face and full of humour. I cannot forget his contagious smile blended with impeccable satires.”
Prof Samdani published two books entitled Uniform Civil Code: Problems And Prospects and Maintenance of The Muslim Divorcee.
He taught Islamic Jurisprudence, Muslim Law Relating to Status, Islamic Legal System, Public International Law and Human Rights Law at UG and PG level. He contributed several articles and research papers on socio-political and legal issues in national and international journals, according to information available on the university portal.
He regularly wrote columns in newspapers and magazines in English, Urdu and Hindi.
He presented papers in several national and international seminars/ conferences. He specialised in Muslim Law, Human Rights Law and International Law.
