GlenDoolittle2 at 03:23, 4 April 2026

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{{Short description|Indian academic administrator and civil servant}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Anwar Jamal Kidwai
| image =
| image_size = 140px
| alt =
| caption =
| order =
| office = 6th Vice-Chancellor of [[Jamia Millia Islamia]]
| term_start = 1978
| term_end = 1983
| chancellor = [[Mohammad Hidayatullah]]
| predecessor = [[Masud Husain Khan]]
| successor = [[Ali Ashraf (academic)|Ali Ashraf]]
| office2 = [[Secretary to the Government of India]] of [[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)|Ministry of Information and Broadcasting]]
| term_start2 = 1980's
| term_end2 = --
| predecessor2 = unknown
| successor2 = unknown
| office3 = [[Secretary to the Government of India]] of [[Ministry of Science and Technology (India)|Ministry of Science and Technology]]
| term_start3 = 1972
| term_end3 = 1973
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 = Dr. A Ramachandran
| birth_place = [[Barabanki]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]], [[British India]]
| spouse =
| father = [[Wilayat Ali]]
| relatives = [[Anis Kidwai]] (sister)<br>[[Rafi Ahmed Kidwai]] (uncle)<br>Shafi Ahmed Kidwai (Brother in law)
| official_residence =
| profession =
| awards =
| birth_date = {{birth date text|1917}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1996|01|03|1917}}
| alma_mater =
}}
'''Anwar Jamal Kidwai''' (1917–1996) was an Indian civil servant and educator who served as the [[List of chancellors and vice-chancellors of Jamia Millia Islamia|sixth Vice Chancellor]] of [[Jamia Millia Islamia]], from 1978 to 1983.<ref>{{cite news|title=Former VC Profile - Jamia Millia Islamia|url=https://jmi.ac.in/about-jamia/profile/history/history/11530/Past-Vcs-Profile|access-date=9 July 2025|publisher=[[Jamia Millia Islamia]]}}</ref> He established the [[A.J.K. Mass Communication Research Centre]] and also served as the first Chairman of [[Film and Television Institute of India]].<ref>{{cite news|title=FTII - Memorandum of Association|url=https://ftii.ac.in/uploads/FTII_Memorandum_of_Association1.pdf|access-date=17 July 2025|publisher=[[Film and Television Institute of India]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250717060405/https://ftii.ac.in/uploads/FTII_Memorandum_of_Association1.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2025 }}</ref>

== Early Life and education==
Anwar Jamal was born in 1917 in [[Barabanki]] at [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]] during [[British rule]], into the [[Qidwai|Kidwai]] family. He was the youngest son of Indian satirist [[Wilayat Ali]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mahmood |first1=Zubair |last2=Khan |first2=Habibur Rahman |date=2017 |title=Digital Preservation of Rare Manuscripts in Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna |journal=Pearl: A Journal of Library and Information Science |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=55 |doi=10.5958/0975-6922.2017.00008.0 |issn=0973-7081|doi-access=free }}</ref> His older sister [[Anis Kidwai]] was a writer and politician who served as a member of [[Rajya Sabha]], the upper house of Indian parliament.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Qidvāʾī |first1=Anīs |title=In freedom's shade |last2=Kidwai |first2=Ayesha |last3=Qidvāʾī |first3=Anīs |last4=Qidvāʾī |first4=Anīs |date=2011 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-341609-8 |location=New Delhi}}</ref>

==Career==
He worked in the [[National Herald]] followed by a six month stint with the [[BBC]] after which he joined [[The Hindustan Times]] and served as a war correspondent during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia.<ref name="AJK1">{{cite news|title=Three visionaries and a media school|url=https://www.india-seminar.com/2021/739/739_shohini_ghosh.htm|access-date=17 July 2025|publisher=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250709115927/https://www.india-seminar.com/2021/739/739_shohini_ghosh.htm|archive-date=2025-07-09}}</ref>

Kidwai initially joined [[Indian Foreign Service]] in 1947 on invitation by [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]. After 10 years, he quit the foreign service<ref name="AJK1"/> and later joined as an officer of the [[Central Secretariat Service]]. As a civil servant, he served as the deputy secretary to the [[Ministry of External Affairs (India)|Ministry of External Affairs]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Palmer |first=Norman D. |date=1955-01-01 |title=The United States and India |url=https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.1955.28.161.43 |journal=Current History |volume=28 |issue=161 |pages=43–50 |doi=10.1525/curh.1955.28.161.43 |issn=0011-3530|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and later as Educational and Scientific Adviser to the [[India House, London|High Commission of India]] in London.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Malik |first1=Amita |title=Amita, No Holds Barred - An Autobiography |date=1999 |publisher=Harpercollins Publishers India |isbn=9788172233518 |location=New Delhi}}</ref>

He then served as the [[Secretary to the Government of India]] in [[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)|Ministry of Information and Broadcasting]] and [[Ministry of Science and Technology (India)|Ministry of Science and Technology]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Former Secretaries - Ministry of Science and Technology|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article600536.ece|access-date=9 July 2025|publisher=[[Ministry of Science and Technology (India)|Ministry of Science and Technology]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1= Siddiqi |first1=Muhammad Zubair |title=Khuda Bakhsh Lectures, Indian and Islamic: English |date=1999 |publisher=Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library |isbn= |location=New Delhi}}</ref> He retired in 1983.<ref name=":0" />

===Jamia Millia Islamia===
In 1978, he was appointed the vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, a central university, where he established [[A.J.K. Mass Communication Research Centre]] in collaboration with [[James Beveridge]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Mushirul Hasan |title=Partners in freedom: Jamia Millia Islamia |last2=Jalil |first2=Rakhshanda |date=2008 |publisher=Niyogi Books |isbn=978-81-89738-10-5 |edition=2. impression |location=New Delhi}}</ref> He also established a hostel for working women.

Kidwai expanded academic disciplines and facilities at Jamia Millia Islamia, launching faculties in Humanities, Languages, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and creating a Centre for Coaching & Career Planning (1983) catering to student enrichment and support.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jamia - The path to progress|url=https://jamiajournal.com/2013/03/12/jamia-the-path-to-progress/|access-date=17 July 2025|publisher=Jamia Journal}}</ref>

====Support for Palestine and Political Advocacy====
In 1982, during [[1982 Lebanon War|Lebanon’s escalation and the violence]] inflicted on Palestinian refugees, Kidwai publicly campaigned within Delhi’s academic circles for revoking [[Menachem Begin]]’s Nobel Peace Prize as a stance of solidarity with Palestine. He saw the struggle of the Palestinians as spiritually resonant with early Islamic revolutionary history, and evoked figures like Ho Chi Minh when addressing the Palestinian cause.

Palestinian leader [[Yasser Arafat]] visited Jamia on May 23, 1982,<ref>{{cite news|title=Yasser Arafat in Delhi|url=https://zikredilli.com/f/yasser-arafat-in-delhi|access-date=17 July 2025|publisher=zikredilli.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250717054655/https://zikredilli.com/f/yasser-arafat-in-delhi|archive-date=2025-07-17}}</ref> invited directly by Kidwai,<ref>{{cite news|title=Are past ties between India and Palestine being eroded?|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/3/22/are-past-ties-between-india-and-palestine-being-eroded|access-date=17 July 2025|publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network]]}}</ref> who addressed him with deep reverence—drawing on Jamia’s heritage as an institution born in a freedom struggle. In later years, Jamia established two halls—Yasser Arafat Hall and Edward Said Hall—near the Vice Chancellor’s office to commemorate solidarity with oppressed intellectuals and political figures.

==Personal life==
He died on 3 January 1996.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvhtAAAAMAAJ |title=Data India |date=1996 |publisher=Press Institute of India |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

===External links===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20250709115927/https://www.india-seminar.com/2021/739/739_shohini_ghosh.htm Three visionaries and a media school]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidwai, Anwar Jamal}}
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:Jamia Millia Islamia people]]
[[Category:People from Barabanki district]]
[[Category:Indian academic administrators]]
[[Category:Indian civil servants]]
[[Category:Indian government officials]]
[[Category:Central Secretariat Service officers]]
[[Category:Indian Foreign Service officers]]
[[Category:People from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian Muslims]]

Anwar Jamal Kidwai - Revision history

GlenDoolittle2 at 03:23, 4 April 2026