Nadeem Tarin, left, speaks at the event in Riyadh.

A cross-section of the Indian community felicitated prominent NRI (non-resident Indian) educationist and social worker Nadeem Tarin for being awarded an honorary doctorate by India’s prestigious Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

Tarin, who has lived in the Kingdom for more than three decades and runs a number of educational institutions in the Kingdom and India, was felicitated at a program organized in Riyadh recently by senior members of AMU living in the Kingdom. Later, another event was organized in his honor by the Delhi Public School (DPS) in the city.

Both programs were attended by large numbers of Indian expats, with many of them hailing Tarin for his philanthropy back home which includes his handsome donation for a sprawling hostel for about 500 boys at the AMU campus.

Speaking on both occasions, Tarin highlighted the importance of education for the wellbeing of the community, saying that only academic excellence can lead to the age of enlightenment and empowerment.

“The privileged section in our society has the responsibility to come forward and fulfill the aspirations of the underprivileged sections as preached by AMU founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who is the real role model for us,” he said.

Addressing the ceremony Dr. Ibrahim Al-Qayid, DPS chairman commended Tarin’s contribution to the community as an esteemed partner and congratulated him for being honored with the award.

He added that Tarin’s success story is inspiring and motivates others to be partners in progress in the Kingdom as well as India.

There was a thunderous applause from the assembled audience that included some of the prominent Indian expatriates residing in the Kingdom.

Earlier, senior AMU colleague Mohammad Ahmad Badshah welcomed the audience to the ceremony organized in a city hotel by opening the floor for friends of Tarin to share their experiences and opinions.

Some of the well-known Indian expatriates living in the capital including Misbahul Arafeen, Dr. Mohamamd Tariq, Zaigham Khan, Dr. Anees Jameel, Taqiuddin Mir, Owais Ahmad, Sohail Ahmed, Mohammad Nasim Akhtar, Meraj Khan and Shamsuddin Shams

shared their experiences and lighter moments with Tarin, who started his career as an engineering graduate to become the general manager of the Riyadh-based Saudi Al-Terais Co. He held several leadership roles within schools and boards, besides being the chairman of the DPS here and the Dammam-based Dunes International School.

A power point presentation was also shown depicting the success story of Tarin and the conferment of the D. Lit. degree presented at the convocation of the university recently in AMU, which was attended by Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, director-general of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), as chief guest.

 
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