BHU protest

Email Shows BHU Did Invite Nita Ambani to Be Visiting Faculty in Women’s Studies Dept

After BHU students held a protest, both Reliance and the university denied that any decision had been taken on offering Nita Ambani a position.

Reliance Industries has denied news reports of receiving any proposal inviting Nita Ambani to be a visiting faculty at the Benaras Hindu University (BHU). A RIL spokesperson told BOOM that the news reports are “fake” and an official release from the university also denied that it had given “an administrative order to appoint” Ambani.

Meanwhile Kaushal Kishor Mishra, dean of the social sciences department which is said to have invited Ambani, told BOOM that he on behalf of the department had sent a proposal invitation, also adding that they even received an acknowledgement about the same.

News that Ambani, the founder of Reliance Foundation and wife of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, will be teaching at the BHU’s Centre for Women’s Studies and Development run by the Department of Social Sciences was reported widely by media outlets. The Free Press Journal and Jagran reported that the proposal had been verbally accepted by Ambani and the university was awaiting a detailed written confirmation. The media reports said, “The BHU authorities are eagerly awaiting a written acceptance to schedule her lectures for the benefit of girl students in the department.”

Refuting the news reports, a Reliance Industries spokesperson said, “Reports that Nita Ambani will be a visiting lecturer at Banaras Hindu University are fake. She hasn’t received an invitation from BHU.”

Following the viral reports, over 40 university students staged a protest in the campus, outside the residence of Vice-Chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar against the decision to appoint Ambani as visiting faculty. Speaking to BOOM, one of the protesting students, Shubham Tiwari a research scholar said, “We read news reports about the appointment and thought it was not right that someone who has not played a big role in the upliftment of the country or made a mark for herself by her own talent or hard work should be teaching students.”

When asked whether they were sure that the department of Social Sciences did indeed send a proposal to Ambani for the position, Tiwari said, “We held a meeting with the department head Kaushal Kishore Mishra about the same and he confirmed that he had sent an email inviting Ambani and also received a reply. But the Vice Chancellor and his office said they did not have a clue about this. That angered us even more that a department took the decision of hiring a visiting faculty without even consulting the university head or the students of the department.”

A report by the Jagran on March 14 has a copy of the proposal sent by the social sciences department to Ambani. The offer letter addressed to Ambani herself reads, “You are such an inspiring and motivating icon for the whole womenfolk that the Benaras Hindu University would feel privileged by honouring you as Visiting Professor in Centre For Women’s Studies and Development. Your entrepreneurship experience, concern for social issues, sympathy for girls and women would definitely and highly motivate the girl students in the region of Purvanchal of Uttar Pradesh.” The letter signed by Nidhi Sharma, Coordinator for the women studies centre and Kaushal Kishor Mishra, Dean of the Social Sciences department further adds, “…I request you to accept our humble offer of visiting professor…”

The BHU public relations officer Chander Shekher Gawri tweeted an official statement from the university. The statement in Hindi said, “No official decision has been taken by the University Administration nor any such administrative order has been given to appoint Mrs. Nita Ambani as a visiting professor in any Faculty Department Center of the University or to give any responsibility of teaching.”. The statement further added, “Be it known that the appointment of a visiting professor at Kashi Hindu University requires the approval of the competent authority. In this case neither such approval has been given nor any such proposal has been presented for consideration before the competent authority.”

With reference to media reports claiming that Mrs. #NitaAmbani is set to become a visiting professor in Centre for Women’s Studies in Faculty of Social Sciences, #BHU, the university has made it clear that it has not taken any official or administrative decision in this regard. pic.twitter.com/PnsENCoAAa

— Chander Shekher Gwari (@CSGwari) March 17, 2021

Earlier in the day, BOOM reached out to Mishra, dean of the social sciences department who confirmed that they had sent a proposal inviting Ambani to be a visiting faculty member. Mishra said, “We sent an email to Reliance and even received an acknowledgement reply from them. The reply among other things said, “Thank you for the proposal inviting Nita Ambani.” I have no clue why they are denying it or calling it fake.”

While Mishra earlier agreed to share with us the email with the invitation and the alleged reply from Reliance, he later refused. “We have been asked by the University to not talk about this anymore with anybody and to refrain from sharing any more information.”

BOOM got a copy of the email acknowledgement received by the department, from a source, which shows that the reply was an automated response and not a formal response from the company. The email reply is from the id “contactus@reliancefoundation.org”, the same email mentioned on the website’s contact us page. The reply reads, “Thank you for your interest in Reliance Foundation. We make every effort to review each request that is submitted to us. But because of the high volume of emails we receive, we may not be able to respond directly to each query.” The reply further adds, “This is an automated response. Please do not reply to this email.”

Below is a photo of the same:

Mishra was not available for further comments following the university’s official statement.

This article was originally published on Boom Live.

BHU Muslim Sanskrit Professor Resigns Following Protests, Joins Another Department

Firoze Khan was appointed as an assistant professor to teach at the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma faculty on November 5. He hasn’t been able to teach because of protests.

New Delhi: Days after a section of students at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) broke out in protests against the appointment of a Muslim professor in the literature section of the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma department, the Sanskrit teacher resigned from his post.

Professor Firoze Khan will now be teaching Sanskrit at a different department of the same institution.

In a note to the protesting students, Kaushlendra Pandey, head of department, said that “in keeping with their sentiments and request, he was informing them that Khan had resigned from his post as assistant professor, literature section and thus all students are requested to participate in their studies and exams”.

BHU note to protesting students

NDTV has reported that the move is apparently a compromise between BHU administration and protesting students, who had agitated for nearly a month against the appointment of a “non-Hindu professor” in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma department. The protests were led by students from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Students had claimed that since the department intertwined the study of religion and literature, a non-Hindu teacher could not impart knowledge allegedly essential to Hindu rituals at the department.

Also read: In Protests Against Firoze Khan, the Undoing of India’s Glorious Tradition

“Professor Khan has resigned from here. He has expressed an interest in joining another wing in the university that teaches Sanskrit. He gave his resignation yesterday (Monday) evening,” professor Kaushalendra Pandey was quoted as having told NDTV.

According to PTI, Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan department dean Bindeswari Prasad Mishra confirmed that Khan has joined the Arts faculty of the university, where he will teach Sanskrit.

Although Khan was supported by some students and also the University administration, he has been unable to conduct classes, an entire month after his recruitment.

Also read: Firoze Khan, Sanskrit and the Case For Broadening the Mind

At BHU, Sanskrit is taught at three departments. The administration, according to NDTV, has claimed that Khan was interviewed by all three departments and had now ‘chosen’ to quit Vidya Dharma and teach at the Arts faculty. The panel that selected him, which includes professor Radhavallabh Tripathi, one of India’s most eminent Sanskrit scholars, has repeatedly said Khan was the most qualified candidate.

The students’ protests had taken a violent turn after they resorted to pelting stones at faculty members who had supported Khan’s appointment. A senior member of the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma faculty, professor Lal Shanti has alleged that he was pushed and had stones thrown at him.

“I was sitting in a classroom when some students barged in and started abusing me in a foul language. They asked me to stop supporting a Muslim’s appointment to the faculty. Some of the students then hurled stones at me… and shoved and pushed,” he told reporters.

In Protests Against Firoze Khan, the Undoing of India’s Glorious Tradition

To understand the concerns of the protesting students, one needs to look deeper into their allegations and the brand of Hindutva they represent.

Who is Firoz Khan? What is his identity in Indian society? How did he develop an interest in learning the Sanskrit language? Is it because of something beyond the narrow peripheries of religion but a reason which is deeply rooted in the culture of India?

Firoz Khan, the newly appointed assistant professor in the Banaras Hindu University belongs to the Dhadhi, Hindu-Islamic community of Rajasthan. Dhadhis are traditional bards, musicians and genealogists living in northern parts of India like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Agricultural Hindus and tribes like Jasts, Rayaka-Rabari, Bishnoi, Khatri and Chhippas are their traditional patrons.

According to the Marwar Census Report of Rajasthan in 1891, Dadhis are followers of both Islam and Hinduism who trace their origin to Rajput families from the time of Ram. The Report records a popular couplet or doha which is still evoked by the community,

Dasrath ke ghar ram janamiya has dadhan mukh boli,
Athara kiror le chawk meliya kaam karan ko chhori

‘Ram was born in the house of Dashrath, said a dhadhi woman
Leaving all work aside, she started singing songs of his birth.’

From the popular origin story of yore to the present times where a singular religious identity dominates, Dadhis have preserved the century-long tradition of a composite, syncretic culture of India. Their identity is testament to an order where Hinduism and Islam are not antagonistic to each other.

When it comes to Firoz Khan’s appointment as Sanskrit professor, it is imperative to answer questions posed by the protesting students of the University and supporters of the protests at large.

Why should a Muslim be allowed to teach Sanskrit at an institute with Hindu religious precedence?

Dr. Firoz Khan was appointed faculty of the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vijnan. Protesters said that in the same way that a Hindu cannot attain the education to become a maulavi, or imam or even a Christian priest, a Muslim or ‘non-Hindu’ can have no right to become a professor of Sanskrit, especially at a place where Sanskrit is taught to produce future shastris and perform rituals.

This question, however, lacks in basic reasoning.

Also read: Firoze Khan, Sanskrit and the Case For Broadening the Mind

Unlike priests or imams of other religious orders, a professor of Sanskrit at BHU would play a role in the preservation and development of ancient and traditional knowledge by keeping pace with modern patterns of learning. His role would not be limited to producing mere machines of rituals which are considered to come under the paradigm of Hinduism.

Besides, Firoz Khan was appointed to the department of literature which has no direct hold over ritual practices.

What about the Hindu calendar published by BHU?

The second major concern raised by the protesters is that the Faculty of Vidya Dharma Vijnan publishes the Vishwa Hindu Pnachangam which is the Hindu calendar, based on Vedic astrology.

Its authenticity would be affected, protesters argue.

The major point of ire raised here is that it would set precedence for the appointment of more non-Hindu faculty members in the department of Sanskrit.

The ‘fear’ expressed here is that many more Muslims would find a way to the Sanskrit department and would gather strength to raise qualms on of authority of the Hindu calendar, which allegedly affects the larger Hindu population across the world.

The right wing politics of ‘sentiments’ develops upon the field of ‘fear’ of losing the integrity of ‘faith’ with the inclusion of non-Hindus in the teaching-learning practices of Sanskrit.

Sanskrit, however, is not the religion but one of the mediums of languages in which Hindu religious scriptures are written.

Teaching Sanskrit literature and making the Hindu calendar are separate functions. More importantly, the Hindu calendar is not made by the divine insight of Brahmins, but instead is designed on the basis of the lunar month and weather of India.

Thus the ‘politics of sentiment’ and the ‘politics of hurt’ is a right wing narrative imposed on BHU to polarise students of the campus on communal lines, establish political advantage of the ‘Hindu’ faith over any other religion living in India, and distract the protests of students over a fee hike.

A cultural attack?

Can it be believed that the future of Hindu ancient religious practices depends upon the appointment of teachers in the modern university space for one of the oldest languages of the world? And can Brahmanism be considered the saviour of this alleged cultural attack by Muslims on the BHU Sanskrit department?

Periyar once said that between a snake and Brahmanism, Brahmanism is more poisonous. It is not a ‘cultural attack’ in the way it is being propagated, but it is a Brahmanical attack on peaceful coexistence of religions in India.

Akbar, Jahangir and Shahjahan gave special attention to the development of the language and it would be unjust to not include Aurangzeb in the list. Shayasta Khan, maternal uncle of Aurangzeb, was noted poet of Sanskrit language who even wrote a treatise called Rasakalpadruma. Other noted Sanskrit poets of the time like Devdatta, author of Gurjarishakatam, acknowledged Aurangzeb and his son Azam Shah in the opening lines of the treatise.

Also read: #RightSideUp: A Tale of Two Universities, ‘Hindu Guilt’

Mohammed Hanif Khan Shastri is the most recent example of a Muslim Sanskrit scholar who was awarded with fourth highest civilian award of the country, Padma Shri (literature and education) in 2019 by President Ramnath Kovind for his immeasurable service to the nation as professor of Sanskrit at the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. He also won the National Communal Harmony Award in 2009

The politics of language replaces language with religion to create anxiety over fragile identity politics driven by a ‘politics of hurt’.

Does cultural Hinduism strengthen political Hindutva?

The invented ‘precariousness’ of the Hindu religion tries to establish a direct link between ‘cultural Hinduism’ and the political ideology of ‘Hindutva’ nurtured by VHP and RSS.

It is this soft communalism or cultural Hindutva which reaches a wider section of the society and sows the seeds for spreading stronger communal hatred.

The narrative constructed by the protestors of BHU are based on soft Hindutva ideology, but is essentially based on the popular communal ideas according to which Islam, ‘a religion of violence’ and Hinduism, a religion of peace can never share the same place. Besides, the appointment of a non-Hindu would dismantle the predominance of Brahmins in the working of the Sanskrit department.

Was Hindutva the fundamental idea behind the Banaras Hindu University?

It is also important to delve into the history of the Banaras Hindu University where ‘H’ doesn’t represent the politically driven perspective of Hinduism. BHU stands on the southern outskirts of Banaras at the bank of the Ganges.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, with the vision of spreading scientific education and rationality, left his legal practice and focused upon the development of the university which he formally announced at the 21st session of Indian National Congress in December 1905.

On November 22, 1911, the Hindu University Society was registered by Malaviya with the support of Annie Besant. He spent a few years to raise funds for the actual foundation of the university.

A statue of Madan Mohan Malviya outside Banaras Hindu University. Credit: BHU website

A statue of Madan Mohan Malviya outside Banaras Hindu University. Photo: BHU website

With persistence, he could wield the support of few princely states and nobles such as Kashi Naresh Prabhu Narayan who gave land at the southern outskirts of the present day Varanasi; the Raja of Darbhanga state, Maharaja Sir Rameshwar Singh Thakur; and the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan who donated Rs 1 lakh for the construction of the university.

The foundation stone of the university was laid by the Sikh saint of the time, Baba Attar Singh ji of Punjab in 1914.

I now come back to the original matter of discussion. A university which was constructed with a vision and contribution of various personalities of the time comes to a point where religion is evoked for the appointment of an assistant professor.

If religion is the deciding factor of the country’s education system and language becomes the battle ground of communal battle against identities, I believe that even gods can’t save the people of this country.

Looking at the increasing saffronisation of educational institutes, the repercussions are not just limited to the destruction of the liberal structures of the societies, but it is the threat to the century-old composite traditions of India or South Asia at large where variegated religious, ethnic and linguistic identities have lived with each other and developed a distinct cultural field of shared heritage.

Several syncretic identity groups like Dadhis, Mirasis, Manganiyars and Langas who have carried this tradition through generations are now under constant attack from dominant political narratives of religions.

An anonymous poet from the same community expressed the dilemma.

Vahid tang nazar ne mujhe kafir mana,
Kafir samajhte hain ki musalman hu mai

(‘The narrow sight of the world labelled me a Muslim
And the Muslims treated me as Hindu’)

Retrospectively, the Indian education system and philosophy is based on the secular notions of learning, and therefore the development of the institutions of learning are based on inclusivity of various caste, creed, religion, gender or class.

Protests against the appointment of the Dr Firoz Khan at Banaras Hindu University not only exhibits right wing political propaganda for further polarisation but is also an attack on composite culture.

Minakshi Rajdev is a PhD scholar at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

As Many as 709 UGC Sanctioned Posts of Sanskrit Lecturers Lying Vacant

The Centre told parliament that UP has the largest number of UGC-recognised Sankskrit mahavidyalayas with 468.

New Delhi: Close on the heels of the opposition to a Muslim lecturer teaching Sanskrit at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) comes the Centre’s data on the absence of Sanskrit teachers in various institutions across the country.

Human resource development minister Ramesh Pokriyal ‘Nishank’ told the Lok Sabha in a written reply this past November 25 that there are as many as 709 vacant posts of Sanskrit lectures in various states.

Though the minister didn’t give state-wise break up of the vacant posts, he said UP has the largest number of UGC-recognised Sankskrit mahavidyalayas with 468.

The minister said the UGC, since June, has sent letters to the state governments to fill up the posts within six months. He, though, didn’t give the details of the responses, if any, of these states to the UGC’s reminders.

In total, 760 Sanskrit mahavidyalayas are affiliated to the UGC. Aside from UP, the minister, in his reply to the question by MPs Kanakmal Katara and Ramcharan Bohra, said while Odisha has 59 such mahavidyalas, Rajasthan has 57.

In Bihar, Gujarat and Uttarakhand, there are 35, 34 and 31 Sanskrit mahavidyalayas recognised by the UGC. While Madhya Pradesh has 19 such colleges, Himachal Pradesh has 18.

Note: An earlier version of this story said UP had 468 vacant posts of Sanskrit lecturers. The Centre hasn’t given the state-wise break-up of vacancies. The story has been updated with the correct figure of all India vacancies.

Firoze Khan, Sanskrit and the Case For Broadening the Mind

The opposition to Firoze Khan’s appointment speaks volumes about the fundamentally one-dimensional view that the right wing has about the manner in which it views identity in its various forms – be it religion, language or culture.

Recently, a controversy broke out over a Muslim who was appointed to teach Sanskrit in Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

Firoze Khan completed his PhD in Sanskrit and happens to come from a family in which most of his brothers and his father have studied Sanskrit. His father makes a living singing devotional songs at fairs and at temples.

Following Khan’s appointment, students from BHU began a protest asking for him to be dismissed because they believe that a Muslim should not be teaching Sanskrit because it is the language of the holy scriptures of Hinduism and therefore can only be taught by a Hindu. On the other hand, the administration and faculty in BHU have thrown their weight behind Firoze Khan but the protest has not abated and neither has the state or central government taken any steps to crack down on the students who are disrupting campus life.

The opposition to Firoze Khan’s appointment speaks volumes about the fundamentally monochromatic, one-dimensional and myopic view that the right wing has about the manner in which it views identity in its various forms, be it religion, language or culture.

For the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological progenitors, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, there can only be one kind of Muslim and one kind of Hindu. Similarly, Sanskrit can only be a language of religion and not of literature and culture. Amongst some Muslims too there is a pre-conception that Arabic is only the language of Islam but of course this highly shortsighted view not only ignores the rich literary tradition of Arabic but also overlooks the various non-Muslim communities whose mother tongue is Arabic.

This restricted understanding of religious identity has less to do with tradition than it does with the manner in which the rise of religious orthodoxy and right-wing nationalism seek to iron out the complex and often ostensibly contradictory identities that every individual has. By externally imposing constraints on who can’t and who can be a Muslim or a Hindu, or for that matter an Indian, these groups seek to construct social homogeneity.

Also watch | Why Can’t a Muslim Teach Sanskrit in BHU?

After all, it is easier to maintain control and exert power through fear and uniformity rather than individuality and diversity. Importantly, orthodoxy here is not contingent on belief, devotion or practice but on the bounds that are imposed in the name of religion and indeed nation.

The perpetual anxiety of both orthodoxy and the right wing is that people will not fit their pre-cast template of what it means to be a Hindu, Muslim or even an Indian.

In other words, individual autonomy and agency are seen as threats to their neatly mapped out ideas of identity. A Hindu who goes to a Dargah to pray or a Muslim who sings songs in praise of Krishna does not only challenge their conception of what it means to be Hindu and Muslim but also threatens their idea of selfhood.

A stamp to commemorate Maulana Hasrat Mohani. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

For instance, Maulana Hasrat Mohani (d. 1951) was a devout Muslim, a murīd or follower of the Firangi Mahal Sufi Pirs who also wrote ghazals in praise of the Hindu god Krishna whom he viewed as a prophet. Apart from this, at various points in his life he was a member of the Congress and the Muslim League and was even a founding member of the Communist Party.

When someone asked him how he could be both a Muslim and a communist, he joked that the communists are stuck at the ‘maqām of lā’ or at the negation with which the Islamic creed La ilāha illallāh (‘There is no god but God’) begins and that eventually they will get past the ‘la’ or the ‘no’ — an allusion to the denial of religion in communist thought — and will make their way to God.

Humour apart, the Maulana’s reply actually contains the key to this dilemma, for he creates the scope for future possibilities by not accepting a bounded idea of a Muslim or for that matter a communist.

However, the understanding of the orthodox scholar or the rightwing politicians for every category, believer/non-believer/Indian/anti-national, has to be closed and narrowly defined rather than capacious and open.

In other words, the politics practiced by such groups and organisations is fundamentally contingent on not only making people fearful about losing or diluting their religious identity but also about perpetuating stereotypes of the ‘other’ so that communities remain separate.

It views people through only one facet of their identity. A Hindu who teaches Arabic or a Muslim who teaches Sanskrit will inevitably complicate the binary understanding of identity that the religious orthodoxy and the right wing thrive on. In fact, the very notion of identity, with its very modern roots in the recognition of citizens by the state, would be anathema to the very tradition that both orthodoxy and the right wing seeks to co-opt.

Some months ago, I was in Kakori Sharif near Lucknow and was wandering around the shrines when my eye fell on one particular gravestone. The beautiful Urdu calligraphy announced that the grave belonged to a ‘Pandit Shafi Alavi.’ I went back to the khanqah to ask the sajjādah-nashīn or Sufi Pir about whose grave this was.

Shah Ainul Haider replied that the person was his uncle and that he had done his PhD in Sanskrit and taught the language at the Sunni Degree College. Throughout his life, he had been known as Pandit Shafi Alavi and so his daughter had decided to have this inscribed on his gravestone.

Also read: #RightSideUp: A Tale of Two Universities, ‘Hindu Guilt’

Photo: Public domain

The very fact that a devout and practicing Muslim had been comfortable with such an appellation throughout his life speaks volumes about his capacious understanding of religion. Furthermore, his daughter’s decision to inscribe the title ‘Pandit’ on his gravestone is testament to the courage of her conviction that a mere appellation did not change the fact that he remained a Muslim.

Similarly, Gopalika Antharjanam from Kerala does not stop being a Brahmin woman simply because she has spent the last 29 years teaching Arabic and indeed has been feted for her mastery of the subject by various Muslim organisations.

Perhaps the most effective way in which people can begin to resist right wing ethno-religious nationalism is by being courageous enough to discard the very stereotypes that are imposed on them.

In other words, the most important step is to refuse to accept their definition of what a Hindu or Muslim should be or indeed should look like.

Firoze Khan, his father and indeed Gopalika Antharjanam represent some examples of this, whereby they break the very moulds that narrow-minded politicians and their supporters wanted them to fit.

There is a well known saying of the Prophet that enjoins Muslims to even travel to China in order to acquire knowledge. The allusion to China not only refers to what was perhaps the most remote geographic location in relation to 7th century Arabia but is also a tacit acknowledgment of the fact that no one community has a monopoly on knowledge.

Indeed the very fact that Sunni and Shia scholars historically used to study in each other’s religious seminaries is further proof of this. Of course, it is another matter that these days both Sunnis and Shias would perhaps even deny that such exchanges took place.

The students protesting against the appointment of Firoze Khan would do well to heed Maulana Zafar Ali Khan’s (d. 1956) advice:

Agar Krishn kī talīm ‘ām hō jāē
To kām fitnagarōñ ka tamām hō jāē

‘If only Krishna’s teachings became widespread
Then the evil of those who sow discord would finish.’

Ali Khan Mahmudabad teaches at Ashoka University and regularly writes for the Urdu, Hindi and English press

BHU Students Protest Posting of Muslim Professor in Sanskrit Department

A large group of students, mostly affiliated to BJP’s youth wing, staged a sit-in protest outside the vice chancellor’s house to demand that the decision be revoked.

New Delhi: In the latest controversy to break out at Banaras Hindu University, students are protesting against the choice of a Muslim as an assistant professor in the Sanskrit department. Meanwhile, the administration has said that it has appointed the “most qualified candidate” for the position.

A large group of students staged a sit-in protest outside the vice chancellor’s house to demand that the decision to appoint Firoz Khan as an assistant professor in the department be revoked. They also tried to obstruct a meeting which was called to deliberate on hirings at the university.

Also read: Protests As BHU Revokes Suspension of Professor Whom 36 Girls Accused of Harassment

The protesters demanded that the appointment of Khan be cancelled as “he is not a Hindu”.

The university maintains that they had selected candidates after a “transparent” process and the appointments are “unanimously” decided.

Also read: BHU Debars 11 Students for Leading 2017 Protests Against the Administration

None of this was enough to assuage students from BJP’s student wing ABVP. The university has said in a statement that it was founded in 1918 with the belief that “equal opportunity would be provided to all to study and teach” by “rising above discrimination”.

Some protesting students told the Hindu that appointing a Muslim would be against the values of Madan Mohan Malaviya, the founder of BHU. Others told the newspaper that they believe corruption and bribery was involved in hiring Khan.

A Year Ago, BHU Students Protested Against the Administration. Now They’re Getting Debarred

A standing committee has found several students guilty of “sitting on a dharna” resulting in them getting debarred from the university.

In September 2017, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was shaken by widespread student protests that catapulted the institution onto the national stage.

Last year, in September, thousands of students, especially girls, spoke up in protest when a BHU student was molested by three men on campus. When the girl went to the proctor and warden to file a complaint, they refused to act on her claims, instead blaming her for the incident. Angry at this response, students started protesting to demand a safer and more democratic campus for themselves.

This was something of a historical moment for BHU as it was the first time that female students left their hostels at night and came out in such large numbers to gather at the university’s main gate.

However, this peaceful protest took a violent turn when protestors were lathi charged by the police. Several girls were badly injured. After this brutal act, BHU students got support from other campuses across the country and many other activists and civil society members. The protestors cause struck a nation-wide chord, giving rise to several solidarity protests in different parts of India.

All this led the vice chancellor, G.C. Tripathi, going on indefinite leave. The matter was eventually handed over to a committee headed by former high court judge V.K. Dikshit, who released a report on the committee’s findings on 25 April 2018. The report gave a clean chit to Tripathi and said the protest was “politicised and sponsored”.

The report’s release was followed by BHU’s newly appointed proctor, Royana Singh, appearing on a TV news channel to declare that the protests were sponsored and that students had distributed pizzas and burgers during the protest.

After the statement aired, students who had participated in the protest, including those who’d been injured in the lathi charge, went to the proctor’s office on May 2, but she refused to meet them. The students claimed that Singh had maligned the protest by labelling it sponsored.

The next day, Singh lodged complaints against the students with the police and also constituted a standing committee to probe the matter. Surprisingly, the proctor herself was part of the committee, despite being the complainant.

While the police cleared the students of any charges, BHU’s standing committee found some students guilty and has debarred them from the university.

One of the debarred students, Aparna Sanjay, a third year student from the Mahila Maha Vidhyalaya said, “When we demanded safety and justice for us in September, we got lathis and when we went to talk to the chief proctor who maligned our protest, then the false charges were put against us and we got debarred from the university. Instead of taking action on the accused, the administration is harassing its own students who raised their voice against injustice.”

Sanjay’s hostel seat was cancelled, with the official reason given that she was sitting on a dharna.

Shubham Ahake, also debarred, said, “I come from an Adivasi community and it has been really challenging for me to come BHU for my studies. It is painful for me that just because I raised my voice against sexual harassment in the campus, I won’t be able to continue my studies.” He added, “This is really unfortunate and is an undemocratic action taken by the BHU administration.”

On the debarring, BHU’s public relations officer, Rajesh Singh, said, “There is no space of protests or dharnas in our campus.” He refused to say anything on the police report. Only adding that the “administration will go according to the report of the standing committee.”

He further added, “if the students apologise and give undertaking of not being part of any protest and demonstration in future, the university will not punish them.”

Despite the issue being brought up in parliament, the university’s administration does not seem like it will budge from its decision.

As a former BHU student, I have always felt that the administration is regressive and patriarchal, and maintains a highly undemocratic atmosphere on campus. If the university is indeed a space for knowledge gathering and creation, then why are students being deprived of their right to do so?

BHU Files FIR Against 1,000 Students for ‘Arson’, Two Policemen Removed Over Lathi Charge

A number of students and two journalists were injured in a lathi charge by the police on Saturday night, after which the chief minister asked the divisional commissioner to file a report.

An injured student after police allegedly beat them up during a clash at Banaras Hindu University late Saturday night. Credit: PTI

New Delhi: After large-scale student protests against the administration’s alleged victim shaming and inaction in a molestation case and a police lathi charge on students, the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has registered an FIR against 1,000 students for arson on Monday. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government removed three additional city magistrates and two policemen in connection with the lathi charge.

Station officer of Lanka police station Rajiv Singh, circle officer Belapur Nivesh Katiyar and additional city magistrates Manoj Kumar Singh, Sushil Kumar Gaund and Jagdamma Prasad Singh were removed prima facie for executing the lathi charge, Indian Express reported.

On Sunday, chief minister Adityanath had asked Varanasi divisional commissioner Nitin Gokarn for a report on the issue, while chief secretary Rajiv Kumar directed Gokarn and ADG (Varanasi Zone) Vishwajit Mahapatra to submit a joint report.

A number of students and two journalists were injured in a lathi charge by the police on Saturday night. The violence erupted after some students, protesting against the molestation incident on Thursday, wanted to meet the varsity’s vice chancellor at his residence. Security guards stopped the students and informed the police, according to university sources.

A BHU spokesperson had said that some students wanted to “forcibly” enter the VC’s residence but they were stopped by the BHU security guards. Subsequently, there was stone pelting by “outsiders” who had joined the students, he said.

Following the violence, the district administration has declared holidays from today till October 2 in all colleges and universities in Varanasi. BHU had earlier announced that the holidays would start from September 28.

A bike in flames during clashes between the students and police at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, late Saturday night. Credit: PTI

A bike in flames at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, late Saturday night. Credit: PTI

The baton charge on journalists led to protests in Lucknow with some scribes staging a sit-in near the chief minister’s residence. They later submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate demanding action against the guilty.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, “The government should resolve the issue by talks, not by lathicharge. It is condemnable. Action should be taken against the guilty.”

Congress leaders Raj Babbar and P.L. Punia, along with scores of party activists, were detained yesterday when they tried to visit the BHU. They were later released. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi slammed the BJP over the police lathi charge.

Attaching a link to a video of the students who alleged that they were beaten up by male policemen at the campus, Gandhi had tweeted, “BJP version of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao in BHU.”

Heavy police personnel deployed at Banaras Hindu University where students were holding a protest in Varanasi, late Saturday night. Credit: PTI

The BHU had issued a statement saying that the ‘dharna’ by the students just a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit was “politically motivated” to malign the image of the university.

Students began that protest after a female first-year student was allegedly groped and molested just outside the university campus. She has said that though she yelled for help, the university security guards did nothing. She then approached the chief proctor and her warden, who apparently asked why she was out so late (at around 6 pm) instead of taking action against the perpetrators.

(With PTI inputs)

BHU Students Protest Administration’s Inaction, Victim-Blaming in Molestation Case

The chief proctor allegedly told students to “keep quiet” until the prime minister’s two-day visit to Varanasi, beginning the day of the protest, was over.

The chief proctor reportedly told students to “keep quiet” until the prime minister’s two-day visit to Varanasi, beginning the day of the protest, was over.

Students protesting at the Banaras Hindu University gate on Friday. Credit: Facebook/Siddhant Mohan

New Delhi: Students from Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi held a large protest on Friday (September 22) against the university administration responding to the molestation of a student by seeking to shame the victim.

A first-year student and resident of the university hostel was molested and grabbed by three bike-borne men just inside the BHU campus at around 6:20 pm on Thursday evening. According to students, when she called for help, the university guards ignored her. She then went inside to report the matter to university officials, but they too were less than sympathetic, students say.

“When the student was molested last evening at 6, she shouted for help but the guards sitting there did not come forward or chase the men. She went and complained to her warden and the chief proctor but they began shaming her. They asked her why she was out so late. They told students that the hostel curfew timings will be shifted from 7 pm to 6 pm,” a female student at the protest told the Indian Express.

According to The Hindu, the complainant and her friends said the guards who had ignored her later snubbed them when they went to ask why there was no response to her cries for help, made misogynist remarks and said she should be careful when out alone in the dark.

The protest, which went on until late into the night, was held on the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was visiting Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency. “PM Modi has been speaking volumes about his ambitious Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign but he should come and see the reality at BHU. The VC and proctor, instead of ordering an inquiry, are blaming the girl for roaming around inside the university premises late in the evening,” a student told India Today, adding that they wanted the prime minister to take note of their protest. According to a report in the Times of India, Modi’s cavalcade was supposed to pass through the BHU gate but changed course to avoid the protest.

According to DNA, students were told not to protest because the prime minister was visiting. “You all keep quite till the prime minister’s visit is over,” students quoted the chief proctor as saying. The newspaper also reported that the chief proctor, O.N. Singh, held talks with the students and promised to punish the perpetrators of the molestation incident. One of the female students also shaved her head in protest, DNA said.

Note: An earlier version of this story, based on initial reports, said the incident happened just outside the campus gate. In fact, it occurred within campus.