Associated press
The virus flood challenges the brightest minds at Indian universities
Sajad Hassan sat at his professor’s bedside for three nights, talking most of the time while his friend and mentor breathed through an oxygen mask and battled a suspected COVID-19 infection. “I could clearly see fear in his eyes,” recalls Hassan. Two days later, Dr. Jibraeil dead, one of nearly 50 professors and non-teaching staff at AMU, one of India’s top universities, who fell victim to the coronavirus in April and May as it roamed the country. The AMU tragedy was repeated across India as schools suffered similar blows to their faculty and the loss of their knowledge – and in many cases friendship and leadership – was devastating to the academic community.