A Sanskrit professor at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has been allegedly attacked by students for supporting his Muslim colleague, Firoz Khan, whose appointment as assistant professor had sent students on protests for the past one month.
The Dalit professor is a senior faculty member in the Sanskrit Vidya Dharam Vigyan (SVDV) department where Mr. Khan has been appointed.
“I was sitting in a classroom when some students barged in and started abusing me in foul language. They asked me to stop supporting a Muslim’s appointment to the faculty.
“I felt unsafe and came out. Some of the students then hurled stones at me and later caught up with me and shoved and pushed me. I could escape because a stranger gave me a lift on his scooter,” Professor Shanti Lal Salvi told reporters .
Mr. Salvi alleged a colleague had instigated the students and that he has complained to Vice-Chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar against the professor.
A student, who was a part of the group that had accosted Mr. Salvi, said they had only asked the professor to stop supporting Mr. Khan, and never attacked him.
Some students of the Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Sankay department have been protesting Mr. Khan’s appointment on the ground that a Muslim cannot teach Hindu religious texts, which the department’s syllabus includes.
Meanwhile, no classes have been held in the SVDV department since November 8, the day after Mr. Khan’s appointment.
