It is with great respect that I remember late Al Haj Dr. A.M.A. Azeez, the exemplary Principal of Zahira College, Colombo on his 36th death anniversary which falls on the 24th of November 2009. He was an eminent and an erudite scholar who became an educationist par excellence. He served with dedication and devotion to uplift the education of the Muslim Community in Sri Lanka. This was achieved through a number of activities, the major being the development of Zahira to be one of the leading schools in the country.
Summary of his path to success is apt to demonstrate why we all admired his leadership as a role-model. Having had his early education in Jaffna, he entered the then University College and graduated with honours in History from the University of London. He won a Government scholarship to pursue post-graduate studies at the University of Cambridge but returned without completing his studies to fulfill his mission of service to the country by joining the prestigious Ceylon Civil Service. He was the first Muslim Civil Servant in this country and held many important positions within the Ceylon Civil Service, excelling in each and every one of them. He was then offered an opportunity to accomplish his vision of providing a radiating centre for educating the community by becoming the Principal of Zahira College which he gladly accepted after prematurely leaving the elitist civil service where he would have had a very bright future.
As the Principal, he was innovative, authoritative and effective in introducing numerous reforms to make Zahira the foremost school in the field of Muslim education. During his tenure as the Principal, Zahira College excelled in education, sports and other extra-curricular activities like cadeting, oratory, debating etc.
His success largely depended on the selection of teachers with commitment, perseverance, dedication and loyalty and the improvement of infrastructural facilities such as the. establishment of well equipped laboratories for sciences, a valuable library and facilities for sports and other extracurricular activities backed by a strong involvement in religious activities.
During his stewardship, Zahira gained significant academic achievements with record numbers entering the University of Ceylon. Well over 100 students gained admission to Universities during the glorious period of Azeez and many became leading academics while the others became eminent professionals and administrators in Sri Lanka and abroad. The high standards of education and discipline introduced by Dr. Azeez have yet to be surpassed.
I am proud to be one of the record number of thirteen who entered the University of Ceylon in 1956, two for Engineering; four for Science; one for Medicine and six for Arts. Among them A.G.A. Barrie is an International Project Management Consultant; K.R.L. Perera preferred to join the Navy, to become a top naval engineer and retired as Rear-Admiral; R.C. Ratnapuli specialized in Physics and worked in Brazil for many years; M.Y Mohamed is a Chartered Accountant; A. Ariyaperuma became a high ranking Army officer and was killed in action and the others ended up as professionals and administrators. At the Peradeniya campus the popular large group of Zahirians held sway in all fields and were affectionately called the “Arab League”.
Dr. Azeez played a dominant role and rendered yeoman service to the renaissance of the education of Muslims of Sri Lanka, worked for their progress and welfare and devoted all his life to the service of his community.
He worked with determination to achieve his vision of helping Muslim students with financial difficulties to pursue higher education by establishing the Ceylon Muslim Scholarship Fund which by now has assisted a large number of Muslim students from every part of the country to continue higher or professional education.
Dr. Azeez believed in catering to all communities as close interaction was essential to bring about multi-racial and multi-religious understanding and respect. Thus students from all communities and from all parts of the country and abroad sought admission to this prestigious leading Muslim college. The staff too hailed from many communities. Irrespective of the community we came from, we as a body of students, had the rare opportunity of living with all communities in harmony, tolerance and friendship and respect to each other.
I am one of those who benefited by his graceful action of allowing non-Muslim students to learn at Zahira College. It is sad that such opportunities are not readily available for the present generation so much so that some have not even socially met members of other communities.
I would like to share some of my reminiscences during my student days under the leadership and guidance of Dr.Azeez, whom I held in high esteem as a mentor, guide and a teacher.
After my secondary education at Rahula College Matara, I joined Zahira to continue my pursuit of higher education and was at home from day one with the fellow students. I had the opportunity to be in the Hostel of the College with many students of different communities and from all parts of the country. Hostellers were a united lot who belonged to one house “Angora”. We were formidable in all spheres of student activity as we could help each other and devote time for extracurricular activities as well. I had the rare opportunity of becoming the first non-Muslim Senior Prefect of the Hostel which changed things for the fellow hostel mates. No Muslim student could avoid or cut prayers early in the morning as I did rounds to all dormitories making sure that all went to the mosque on time. I may not have been popular on this count but my friends appreciated the fact that they were made to seriously study during the allocated times. As the Senior Prefect I had to be the secretary of Angora House which added more responsibility of organising winning teams both in sports and extracurricular activities for inter-house competitions.
We won most of the competitions as we were a united and a dedicated set of friends with a common purpose. Dr. Azeez gave a free hand to the Boarding Master, Mr. Issadeen, fondly called “Bulldog”, who was also a task master, to run the hostel. The mischievous deeds and pranks of the hostellers are reminisced with delight even now, when old Zahirians and ex-hostellers meet.
The next memorable event was when I was appointed a Prefect of the College. We were proud of the badge that we were given and had to fulfil our tasks with dedication. I had to continue with the task of sending all students to the mosque after school as my brother Prefects also had to go for prayers. No one could sneak out of the gates without being questioned.
As Prefects we were excited to attend the meetings with the Principal as these were exciting, stimulating and rewarding. He not only took students into confidence and entertained suggestions for improvement, but was also perceptive to them. We learnt from our close interaction with him, the proper sense of duty, commitment and attitudes towards harmony and tolerance in the multi ethnic and multi religious community.
In the academic activities, I distinctly remember the time that I as a biological science student, won the Senior Arithmetic Prize after competing with the Mathematics stream students. I also remember with gratitude, the School Prize Days where I won both the Senior biological and physical science prizes. It was a treat to listen to the eloquent and flowery speeches of our Principal at Prize Days in the presence of distinguished chief guests and invitees.
We as hostellers arranged annual trips lasting days as we could enjoy the generous hospitality of the hostel mates from different parts of the country. This was an occasion for us to learn the cultural practices of all communities and religions.
Not being a good sportsman, my activities centered on inter-school debating, oratory and Do You Know competitions. Our victories were well appreciated by our principal with mention at the weekly assemblies where we enjoyed listening to his religious quotes. After victories I recall the many times that Dr & Mrs. Azeez entertained us at their home ‘Meadow Sweet’ in Barnes Place
Dr Azeez’s contribution to the Senate was noteworthy. We never missed any speech made by him in the floor of the Upper House of Parliament during Senate debates and discussions as these were rich in content and demonstrated his flair for the language. These speeches were not tainted with trifling consideration of community or religion but were precise and enriched with forethought, illustrating his eminence as a good orator, educationist and an administrator.
I must congratulate the Dr. A.M.A. Azeez Foundation for giving the present generation an opportunity to enrich themselves by reading the printed collection of Dr Azeez’s speeches in the Senate.
Besides, Dr. Azeez initiated the All Ceylon YMMA Conference which has now grown to cover all parts of the country and worked with distinction as a member of the Public Service Commission, Court, Council and Senate of the University of Ceylon and as President of many Associations. His contributions as a writer in English and Tamil are well acclaimed and admired.
We will remember with gratitude the yeoman services rendered by Late Al Haj Dr. A.M.A. Azeez as an erudite scholar, distinguished educationist, innovative leader, eminent administrator, prominent Senator. exceptional orator, reputed writer and above all a community worker for the enrichment of our country and the society. He was a caring and helpful gentleman of great vision, geniality and understanding who demonstrated what he believed in by example. His lifetime contributions, performance, steadfastness and commitment ought to be emulated by the present day leaders of all communities.
(Prof. Tuley de Silva hails from Matara and was a student of Zahira College, Colombo during the Azeez era. He entered the University of Ceylon in 1956 and graduated with Honours in Chemistry in 1960. He obtained the Degree of B. Pharm. from the University of London in 1965. He was awarded the M.Sc. and Ph.D from the University of Manchester, UK in 1969 and 1971 respectively. In 1996 he was awarded a Honorary D.Sc. from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura. He was Professor of Chemistry of the University of Jayawardenapura, Visiting Professor at University of Maryland, U.S.A. and Pharmaceutical University of Shenyang in China. He served as Special Technical Adviser of UNIDO in Vienna, Austria and as Consultant at the International Centre for Science and Technology in Trieste, Italy. He has headed many professional associations and is on the Boards of many institutions and universities. He was awarded the National Honour of Deshabandu)
