Maeeshat News Network | New Delhi

In the heart of New Delhi, the Ministry of Education unveiled the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2025 rankings on September 4, 2025. The air was thick with anticipation as academics, policymakers, and students awaited the results. For three of India’s most storied Muslim institutions—Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), and Jamia Hamdard—the outcome was a bittersweet moment. Once shining beacons in the 2024 rankings, they had slipped in the 2025 standings, sparking a quiet but urgent conversation about their challenges and resilience.

A Legacy Under Pressure

JMI, AMU, and Jamia Hamdard were not just universities; they were symbols of a community’s fight for educational empowerment. Founded in the crucible of India’s independence movement, JMI (1920) and AMU (1875, as Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College) had defied colonial oppression to nurture scholars, leaders, and change-makers. Jamia Hamdard, established in 1989, carried forward this legacy with its focus on pharmacy and medical sciences. Yet, the NIRF 2025 rankings told a sobering story: JMI fell from 3rd to 4th, AMU from 8th to 10th, and Jamia Hamdard from 40th to 47th among Indian universities. In the overall category, JMI held steady at 13th, but AMU slipped from 16th to 19th, and Jamia Hamdard plummeted from 62nd to 74th.

Despite these setbacks, there were glimmers of hope. Jamia Hamdard retained its crown as India’s top pharmacy college, outshining Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani and Panjab University. JMI also excelled in specific domains, securing 5th in Architecture and Planning, 8th in Law, 17th in Dental, 20th in Research, 24th in Engineering, and 28th in Management. These achievements underscored their enduring strengths, but the question lingered: why were these institutions faltering in the broader rankings?

The Weight of Expectations

The NIRF rankings, launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Education, evaluate institutions on five parameters: Teaching, Learning, and Resources (TLR); Research and Professional Practices (RP); Graduation Outcomes (GO); Outreach and Inclusivity (OI); and Perception (PR). For JMI, AMU, and Jamia Hamdard, each parameter revealed both triumphs and trials.

In a quiet corner of JMI’s campus, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Mazhar Asif reflected on the results. “Our drop from 3rd to 4th is a call to introspect,” he said, his voice steady but resolute. “We’ve excelled in sustainability, ranking 3rd in the new SDG category, but resource constraints and perception challenges hold us back.” JMI’s sprawling campus, home to 284 courses and a research-intensive environment with an h-index of 129, faced funding shortages that limited infrastructure upgrades and faculty recruitment. The university’s storied history—founded by nationalist leaders like Muhammad Ali Jauhar and supported by Mahatma Gandhi—could not fully shield it from modern financial pressures.

At AMU, Dr. Khalid Mahmood, a professor of political science, stood before students in the iconic Kennedy Auditorium. “We’re still in the top 10, but 10th feels like a wake-up call,” he admitted. AMU’s slide from 8th to 10th was partly due to a dip in research output and perception scores, often clouded by political controversies. “We are unfairly labelled as ‘separate’ or ‘anti-national,’” Khalid said, echoing sentiments from a Clarion India report. “Our students and faculty work tirelessly, but external biases affect how we’re perceived.”

Jamia Hamdard’s Chancellor, Hammad Ahmed, took pride in the pharmacy ranking but acknowledged the broader decline. “Our focus on specialized fields like pharmacy is unmatched, but scaling research across disciplines requires investment we struggle to secure,” he said. The university’s drop to 47th reflected challenges in graduation outcomes and outreach, despite its innovative contributions to healthcare.

The Roots of the Struggle

The reasons for the slide were complex, woven into systemic and societal threads. Funding was a persistent hurdle. Muslim institutions, often serving marginalized communities, relied heavily on government grants, which were stretched thin across India’s vast higher education system. Unlike IITs or IISc Bengaluru, which topped the 2025 rankings with robust budgets and global partnerships, JMI, AMU, and Jamia Hamdard faced resource gaps that hampered lab upgrades, international collaborations, and faculty expansion.

Perception, the most subjective NIRF parameter, was another battleground. JMI and AMU, in particular,  had faced political scrutiny, from protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019 to accusations of fostering separatism. These narratives, though refuted by their diverse alumni—including Shah Rukh Khan, Virender Sehwag, and countless public servants—tainted their public image. “Perception isn’t just about academic output; it’s about how the world sees us,” said a JMI professor, requesting anonymity. “We’re judged not just as universities but as Muslim institutions.”

Research output, another critical metric, lagged due to limited access to cutting-edge facilities and fewer industry tie-ups. While IISc Bengaluru and JNU, ranked 1st and 2nd, boasted global research networks, Muslim institutions struggled to match their scale. Jamia Hamdard’s pharmacy program thrived, but its broader research portfolio needed bolstering. AMU’s rich legacy in humanities and sciences was undeniable, yet its STEM research output trailed newer players like Manipal Academy (3rd) and BITS Pilani (7th).

A Path Forward

The story was not one of defeat but of resilience. At JMI, Prof. Asif rallied faculty to double down on research grants and international partnerships. The university’s Internal Quality Assurance Cell, established in 2010, was already driving quality improvements, earning an A++ NAAC accreditation. AMU launched initiatives to boost STEM research, with plans to collaborate with tech giants. Jamia Hamdard, leveraging its pharmacy success, aimed to expand interdisciplinary programs, eyeing a return to the top 40.

The 2025 rankings, while a setback, were a clarion call. These institutions, born from struggle, had faced greater odds before. JMI’s move from Aligarh to Delhi in 1925, AMU’s rise from the ashes of 1857, and Jamia Hamdard’s ascent in pharmacy proved their tenacity. As Dr. Khalid told his students, “Our history is long, our struggles real, but our contributions undeniable. These rankings are a moment, not our destiny.”

Across India, the NIRF 2025 rankings celebrated excellence, with IISc Bengaluru, JNU, and IITs leading the charge. Yet, for JMI, AMU, and Jamia Hamdard, the journey was about more than numbers. It was about carrying the dreams of a community, defying prejudice, and building a future where knowledge transcended barriers. As the sun set over JMI’s Okhla campus, AMU’s sprawling lawns, and Jamia Hamdard’s labs, their students studied on, undeterred, knowing their institutions’ legacy would endure.