New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has suspended a professor from its department of social work over a question he set on “atrocities against Muslims in India” in a semester exam paper.
According to university officials, there were complaints over a question in the BA (Hons) Social Work first-semester examination held earlier this week in a paper titled ‘Social Problems in India’. The question read: “Discuss the atrocities against Muslim minorities in India, giving suitable examples.”
The paper was set by Virendra Balaji Sahare, a professor at the university. University officials confirmed that an inquiry committee has been constituted to examine the matter. “The university has taken a serious view of the lapse and the carelessness on the part of the concerned professor. Therefore, an inquiry committee has been formed, and until the committee submits its report, the professor has been placed under suspension,” a senior university official told ThePrint.
An official order circulated on social media and signed by officiating registrar C. A. Sheikh Safiullah stated: “…On the instruction of the competent authority, the paper setter Prof. Virendra Balaji Shahare, Department of Social Work, JMI is placed under suspension till further orders and police FIR will be filed as per rules… During the suspension period, the headquarters of Prof. Virendra Balaji Shahare will be New Delhi and he shall not leave the headquarters without prior permission of the Competent Authority.”
However, when contacted, officials at the university said, “There is no intention to file any FIR against the concerned professor.”
ThePrint reached out to professor Sahare over an email and this report will be updated as and when he responds.
The question paper sparked an uproar on social media Monday, with users sharing images and expressing outrage over its content.
“Jamia is a state-run university. Using our tax money, they are teaching students to only remember Akhlaq and totally ignore Ram Gopal Mishra. Training for ISIS’ Dabiq?” wrote Swati Goel Sharma in a post on X on Monday.
Another X user Satyam Vats posted Monday: “The audacity of a central university to ask this question when Hindus are being massacred in our neighborhood every day. Just a few days ago, the radical Muslims of Bangladesh torched Dipu Chandra Das just because he said all gods are equal. Hindu women are being raped and converted to Islam every other day.”
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
No FIR. I am saying this who is leaning right that no one should be jailed for speech. Just suspend him from his position and let him teach in a madrasa.