By Umer Nangiana

The Jamia Millia University Old Student Alumni Qatar recently hosted a reception for prominent scholar and academic Syed Shahid Mahdi, IAS and the former Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, India.
On his way back from the 95th Jamia Foundation Day in Riyadh and Jeddah, where he was chief guest, Mahdi paid a short visit to Doha and was hosted by his former University’s alumni at the residence of his  nephew Arif Mahdi in Al-Mirghab Club House, Al Waab Doha.
Shakila Reza, the sister of Shahid Mehdi, was also present on the occasion while she was also on a short visit from Washington DC, USA. Syed Shahid Mahdi served as Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi from 2000-2004. Speaking to the group, he emphasised the importance of education in the development of a country.
He said parents have a big role in curtailing school dropouts and making the best use of academic institutions already available to them.  
“Parents should try and provide the best and competitive education to their children,” Shahid advised the gathering of Jamia alumni, urging them to keep the flag of their alma mater high. Najmul Hasan Khan, Founder of JIU-Alumni Doha, welcomed the chief guest and moderated the evening.
A Master of Arts in History with Political Science from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, Shahid Mahdi holds the distinction of standing first in all examinations at school and university levels.
He started his teaching career at Aligarh Muslim University and Kurukshetra University in 1959. In 1963, he joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), attaining the second position in the batch.
Mahdi served the government of Bihar in India in district and at the state headquarters, holding various positions including Deputy Development Commissioner, Director of Fisheries, Managing Director of the State Cooperative Bank, Managing Director of the State Cooperative Marketing Union and Resident Commissioner in New Delhi.
He also held the position of Fertilizer Commissioner in the Central Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi. Mahdi served as India’s Alternate Permanent Representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome.  
The former Jamia vice-chancellor also represented India in FAO conferences, FAO Executive Council sessions and meetings of inter-governmental bodies including Committee on Commodities, Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, Codex Alimentarius.
Among other positions, he was elected as Vice-Chairman, FAO Programme Committee, which reviews and endorses FAO’s programmes and budget to the council. The members of this body are elected by governments’ representatives of the 52 member nations of the FAO Council.
Between 1970-1977 and 1983-1988, Mahdi served at the FAO Headquarters, Rome in various divisions, including as Chief of Inter-Agency Affairs handling FAO’s relations with other UN agencies and bodies such as Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), UNESCO, ILO, WHO, UNIDO.
Madhi also served as Senior Officer in the Cabinet of the Director-General of FAO dealing with organisation-wide issues.
From January 1988 to 1993, he remained FAO Representative (FAOR) in Nepal. FAOR is responsible for developing, managing and monitoring all assistance programmes of the organisation in the country of assignment. From 1993-2000, he represented FAO in Yemen.
During this period, he was assigned for about a year to Ethiopia as FAO Representative at a time when the country was facing a drought emergency situation.
In Yemen, during the period of the assignment, he helped in developing and mobilising funds for FAO’s technical assistance programme, raising it to one of the largest in the world.
Mahdi also periodically acted as the Resident Coordinator (RC) of all the UN development agencies in Nepal and Yemen. Mahdi remained for over 10 years in the senior-most D-2 professional grade of UN. His areas of interest are education, UN System, Environment, Agriculture, Rural Development, Urdu Persian and English Literature, Cooperative Literature and Fine Arts.
Arif Mahdi hosted a dinner for the guests at the occasion. The prominent guests at this event were Sabeah Bukhari, Habib Un Nabi, Mohammad Tahir Jamil, Pervaiz Khan, Rashid Mahdi, Zia Ur Rehman, Osman and other friends of Arif and alumnis.